Generating the Hopf fibration experimentally in nematic liquid crystals.

نویسندگان

  • Bryan Gin-ge Chen
  • Paul J Ackerman
  • Gareth P Alexander
  • Randall D Kamien
  • Ivan I Smalyukh
چکیده

The Hopf fibration is an example of a texture: a topologically stable, smooth, global configuration of a field. Here we demonstrate the controlled sculpting of the Hopf fibration in nematic liquid crystals through the control of point defects. We demonstrate how these are related to torons by use of a topological visualization technique derived from the Pontryagin-Thom construction.

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عنوان ژورنال:
  • Physical review letters

دوره 110 23  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2013