A family of deformed models of the sine–Gordon-type can be generated by twisting the sine–Gordon model. As a particular case, the 3-sine–Gordon model is here addressed, whose differential ...configurational entropy and the differential configurational complexity of three topological sectors are discussed using two complementary approaches. Stability aspects are also discussed.
•Deformed models of the sine–Gordon-type can be generated by twisting the sine–Gordon model.•The differential configurational entropy and the differential configurational complexity of three topological sectors are computed.•Stability of kinks is addressed.•Immediate applications to braneworld scenarios.
Braiding Majorana zero modes is essential for fault-tolerant topological quantum computing. Iron-based superconductors with nontrivial band topology have recently emerged as a surprisingly promising ...platform for creating distinct Majorana zero modes in magnetic vortices in a single material and at relatively high temperatures. The magnetic field-induced Abrikosov vortex lattice makes it difficult to braid a set of Majorana zero modes or to study the coupling of a Majorana doublet due to overlapping wave functions. Here we report the observation of the proposed quantum anomalous vortex with integer quantized vortex core states and the Majorana zero mode induced by magnetic Fe adatoms deposited on the surface. We observe its hybridization with a nearby field-induced Majorana vortex in iron-based superconductor FeTe
Se
. We also observe vortex-free Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states at the Fe adatoms with a weaker coupling to the substrate, and discover a reversible transition between Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states and Majorana zero mode by manipulating the exchange coupling strength. The dual origin of the Majorana zero modes, from magnetic adatoms and external magnetic field, provides a new single-material platform for studying their interactions and braiding in superconductors bearing topological band structures.
Topological defects are singularities in material fields that play a vital role across a range of systems: from cosmic microwave background polarization to superconductors and biological materials. ...Although topological defects and their mutual interactions have been extensively studied, little is known about the interplay between defects in different fields—especially when they coevolve—within the same physical system. Here, using nematic microfluidics, we study the cross-talk of topological defects in two different material fields—the velocity field and the molecular orientational field. Specifically, we generate hydrodynamic stagnation points of different topological charges at the center of star-shaped microfluidic junctions, which then interact with emergent topological defects in the orientational field of the nematic director. We combine experiments and analytical and numerical calculations to show that a hydrodynamic singularity of a given topological charge can nucleate a nematic defect of equal topological charge and corroborate this by creating −1, −2, and −3 topological defects in four-, six-, and eight-arm junctions. Our work is an attempt toward understanding materials that are governed by distinctly multifield topology, where disparate topology-carrying fields are coupled and concertedly determine the material properties and response.
Polar skyrmions are predicted to emerge from the interplay of elastic, electrostatic and gradient energies, in contrast to the key role of the anti-symmetric Dzyalozhinskii-Moriya interaction in ...magnetic skyrmions. Here, we explore the reversible transition from a skyrmion state (topological charge of -1) to a two-dimensional, tetratic lattice of merons (with topological charge of -1/2) upon varying the temperature and elastic boundary conditions in (PbTiO
)
/(SrTiO
)
membranes. This topological phase transition is accompanied by a change in chirality, from zero-net chirality (in meronic phase) to net-handedness (in skyrmionic phase). We show how scanning electron diffraction provides a robust measure of the local polarization simultaneously with the strain state at sub-nm resolution, while also directly mapping the chirality of each skyrmion. Using this, we demonstrate strain as a crucial order parameter to drive isotropic-to-anisotropic structural transitions of chiral polar skyrmions to non-chiral merons, validated with X-ray reciprocal space mapping and phase-field simulations.
Aligned graphenic fragments of varying size, mimicking those found in carbons carbonized through a mesophase, are found to self-assemble towards structures of varying anisotropy when annealed using ...molecular dynamics simulations. These models enable us to probe the range of topological features present in carbons of varying anisotropy where we find significant differences in the defects present. We conclude that the screw dislocation is the dominant annealable defect in graphitizable carbons, while a persistence of saddle-shaped defects may make some carbons less graphitizable. These findings contribute to the ongoing questions surrounding the factors which determine precursor graphitizability.
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Significance Nematic liquid crystals (LCs) are arguably the simplest examples of partially ordered condensed matter, and they are core materials in many commercial products. Our experiments explore ...fundamental questions about how chiral configurations of LCs can arise from achiral building blocks. Left- and right-handed chiral structures are produced by a delicate balance of LC bulk elasticity and surface conditions in confinement. The key experimental ingredients are biocompatible aqueous lyotropic chromonic LCs that twist easily. Combined with the new constraints, this class of achiral LC exhibits chiral structures and a rich assortment of defects, which hint at applications in sensing and optics.
We study chiral symmetry-broken configurations of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) confined to cylindrical capillaries with homeotropic anchoring on the cylinder walls (i.e., perpendicular surface alignment). Interestingly, achiral nematic LCs with comparatively small twist elastic moduli relieve bend and splay deformations by introducing twist deformations. In the resulting twisted and escaped radial (TER) configuration, LC directors are parallel to the cylindrical axis near the center, but to attain radial orientation near the capillary wall, they escape along the radius through bend and twist distortions. Chiral symmetry-breaking experiments in polymer-coated capillaries are carried out using Sunset Yellow FCF, a lyotropic chromonic LC with a small twist elastic constant. Its director configurations are investigated by polarized optical microscopy and explained theoretically with numerical calculations. A rich phenomenology of defects also arises from the degenerate bend/twist deformations of the TER configuration, including a nonsingular domain wall separating domains of opposite twist handedness but the same escape direction and singular point defects (hedgehogs) separating domains of opposite escape direction. We show the energetic preference for singular defects separating domains of opposite twist handedness compared with those of the same handedness, and we report remarkable chiral configurations with a double helix of disclination lines along the cylindrical axis. These findings show archetypally how simple boundary conditions and elastic anisotropy of confined materials lead to multiple symmetry breaking and how these broken symmetries combine to create a variety of defects.
On page 2353, Q.‐H. Wei and co‐workers present a plasmonic photopatterning technique for aligning liquid‐crystal (LC) molecules into arbitrarily complex patterns. By encoding target molecular ...orientations in plasmonic metamasks, this technique enables repeatable and scalable alignments of LCs with high spatial resolution and high throughput, which promises applications in the fabrication of various LC devices.
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Lattice defects (including disclinations and dislocations) which commonly exist in various materials, have shown a fantastic ability to produce excellent mechanical and physical ...properties of matters. In this paper, lattice defects are introduced into valley-polarized elastic phononic plates. Deformations of lattices yield interfaces expressing as topologically protected waveguides, due to the valley-polarized phase transition of phononic crystals (PnCs) across interfaces. The topological interface states immunize against the finite sizes and the moderate disturbances of plates, essentially differing from the trivial lattice defect states. The discovery of topologically valley-polarized edge states yielded by lattice defects unveils a new horizon in topological mechanics and physics. It provides a novel platform to implement elastic devices with robust topological waveguides.
This brief Perspective focuses on recent advances in the design of functional soft materials that are based on confinement of low molecular weight liquid crystals (LCs) within micrometer-sized ...droplets. While the ordering of LCs within micrometer-sized domains has been explored extensively in polymer-dispersed LC materials, recent studies performed with LC domains with precisely defined size and interfacial chemistry have unmasked observations of confinement-induced ordering of LCs that do not follow previously reported theoretical predictions. These new findings, which are enabled in part by advances in the preparation of LCs encapsulated in polymeric shells, are opening up new opportunities for the design of soft responsive materials based on surface-induced ordering transitions. These materials are also providing new insights into the self-assembly of biomolecular and colloidal species at defects formed by LCs confined to micrometer-sized domains. The studies presented in this Perspective serve additionally to highlight gaps in knowledge regarding the ordering of LCs in confined systems.
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