Soft Meta Matter
ORAL · Invited
Abstract
Before topology existed as a formal branch of mathematics and long before the wide acceptance of the existence of atoms, Lord Kelvin hypothesized that the elements in the Periodic Table were different vortex knots tied within the so-called “aether”.1 These ideas gave rise to the branch of topology, and the very need to distinguish knots led to Kelvin's celebrated definition of chirality.2 Kelvin's vortex-atom theory turned out to be false and the “aether” was found not to exist, but the idea of knots in physical fields behaving like particles became pervasive in many branches of physics, including various models of subatomic particles.
This lecture will describe how we experimentally and theoretically realize microscopic analogs of Kelvin's vortex atoms in chiral ordered media, like liquid crystals, colloids and magnets. Endowed with topological protection, our vortex knot quasi-atoms undergo fusion and fission, like their atomic nuclei counterparts, as well as self-assemble into a plethora of different crystals that exhibit unexpected properties like giant electrostriction. While vortex knots were previously generated in conventional nonchiral fluids 2, they were found to undergo a series of reconnections in the vortex lines that eventually destabilized the knots. Our vortex knots in the chiral ordered host medium are stabilized by the combination of chirality and topological protection of the particle-like objects they correspond to. The chiral condensed matter host media serve a role analogous to that of the fictional "perfect fluid", the aether that was never found to exist. We demonstrate and envisage many types of similar topology-protected atom-like quasi-particles as building blocks of pre-designed forms of an artificial matter,3-9 the knotted chiral meta matter capable of overcoming limitations of the natural world around us. Technological uses may range from spintronics and data storage4 to new breeds of electro-optic devices and displays6 and even to storing energy in laser beams tied into knotted vortices.7
1. Proc. R. Soc. Edin. 1867, 6, 94
2. Rep. Prog. Phys. 2020, 83, 106601
3. Science 2019, 365, 1449
4. Phys Rev lett, 2020, 125, 057201
5. Nature Materials 2017, 16, 426
6. Nature Photonics 2022, 16, 454
7. Nature Materials 2023, 22, 64
8. Nature Physics 2023, 19, 451
9. Science Advances 2024, 10, eadj9373
This lecture will describe how we experimentally and theoretically realize microscopic analogs of Kelvin's vortex atoms in chiral ordered media, like liquid crystals, colloids and magnets. Endowed with topological protection, our vortex knot quasi-atoms undergo fusion and fission, like their atomic nuclei counterparts, as well as self-assemble into a plethora of different crystals that exhibit unexpected properties like giant electrostriction. While vortex knots were previously generated in conventional nonchiral fluids 2, they were found to undergo a series of reconnections in the vortex lines that eventually destabilized the knots. Our vortex knots in the chiral ordered host medium are stabilized by the combination of chirality and topological protection of the particle-like objects they correspond to. The chiral condensed matter host media serve a role analogous to that of the fictional "perfect fluid", the aether that was never found to exist. We demonstrate and envisage many types of similar topology-protected atom-like quasi-particles as building blocks of pre-designed forms of an artificial matter,3-9 the knotted chiral meta matter capable of overcoming limitations of the natural world around us. Technological uses may range from spintronics and data storage4 to new breeds of electro-optic devices and displays6 and even to storing energy in laser beams tied into knotted vortices.7
1. Proc. R. Soc. Edin. 1867, 6, 94
2. Rep. Prog. Phys. 2020, 83, 106601
3. Science 2019, 365, 1449
4. Phys Rev lett, 2020, 125, 057201
5. Nature Materials 2017, 16, 426
6. Nature Photonics 2022, 16, 454
7. Nature Materials 2023, 22, 64
8. Nature Physics 2023, 19, 451
9. Science Advances 2024, 10, eadj9373
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Presenters
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Ivan I Smalyukh
University of Colorado, Boulder
Authors
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Ivan I Smalyukh
University of Colorado, Boulder