Topological Aspects of Triplet Superconductors

In this paper, using the Φ-mapping theory, it is shown that two kinds of topological defects, i.e., the vortex lines and the monopoles exist in the helical configuration of magnetic field in triplet superconductors. And the inner topological structure of these defects is studied. Because the knot solitons in the triplet superconductors are characterized by the Hopf invariant, we also establish a relationship between the Hopf invariant and the linking number of knots family, and reveal the inner topological structure of the Hopf invariant.     

Topological Structure of Knotted Vortex Lines in Liquid Crystals

In this paper, a novel decomposition expression for the U（1） gauge field in liquid crystals （LCs） is derived. Using this decomposition expression and the b-mapping topological current theory, we investigate the topological structure of the vortex lines in LCs in detail. A topological invariant, i.e., the Chern-Simons （CS） action for the knotted vortex lines is presented, and the CS action is shown to be the total sum of all the self-linking and linking numbers of the knot family. Moreover, it is pointed out that the CS action is preserved in the branch processes of the knotted vortex lines.     

A New Route to the Interpretation of Hopf Invariant

We discuss an object from algebraic topology, Hopf invariant, and reinterpret it in terms of the φ-mapping topological current theory. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new theoretical framework, which can directly give the relationship between Hopf invariant and the linking numbers of the higher dimensional submanifolds of Euclidean space R^2n-1. For the sake of this purpose we introduce a topological tensor current, which can naturally deduce the (n-1)-dimensional topological defect in R^2n-1 space. If these (n-1)-dimensional topological defects are closed oriented submanifolds of R^2n-1, they are just the (n-1)-dimensional knots. The linking number of these knots is well defined. Using the inner structure of the topological tensor current, the relationship between Hopf invariant and the linking numbers of the higher-dimensional knots can be constructed.     

Link invariants of electromagnetic fields

The cross-helicity integral is known in fluid dynamics and plasma physics as a topological invariant which measures the mutual linkage of two divergence-free vector fields, e.g., magnetic fields, on a three-dimensional domain. Generalizing this concept, a new topological invariant is found which measures the mutual linkage of three closed two-forms, e.g., electromagnetic fields, on a four-dimensional domain. The integral is shown to detect a separation of the cross helicity between two of the fields with the help of the third field. It can be related to the triple linking number known in knot theory. Furthermore, it is shown that the well-known three-dimensional cross helicity and the new four-dimensional invariant are the first two examples of a series of topological invariants which are defined by n-1 field strengths F=dA on a simply connected n-dimensional manifold M(n).     

Knotted Topological Phase Singularities of Electromagnetic Field

In this paper, knotted objects (RS vortices) in the theory of topological phase singularity in electromagnetic field have been investigated in details. By using the Duan's topological current theory, we rewrite the topological current form of RS vortices and use this topological current we reveal that the Hopf invariant of RS vortices is just the sum of the linking and self-linking numbers of the knotted RS vortices. Furthermore, the conservation of the Hopf invariant in the splitting, the mergence and the intersection processes of knotted RS vortices is also discussed.     

Vector and Spinor Decomposition of SU（2） Gauge Potential, Their Equivalence, and Knot Structure in SU（2） Chern-Simons Theory

In this paper, spinor and vector decompositions of SU（2） gauge potential are presented and their equivalence is constructed using a simply proposal. We also obtain the action of Faddeev nonlinear 0（3） sigma model from the SU（2） mass/ve gauge field theory, which is proposed according to the gauge invariant principle. At last, the knot structure in SU（2） Chern-Simons filed theory is discussed in terms of the Φ-mapping topological current theory, The topological charge of the knot is characterized by the Hopf indices and the Brouwer degrees of Φ-mapping.     

Vortex Lines and Monopoles in Electrically Conducting Plasmas

Based on the φ-mapping topological current theory and the decomposition of gauge potential theory, the vortex lines and the monopoles in electrically conducting plasmas are studied. It is pointed out that these two topological structures respectively inhere in two-dimensional and three-dimensional topological currents, which can be derived from the same topological term n^→·（Эin^→×Эjn^→）, and both these topological structures axe characterized by the φ-mapping topological numbers-Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees. Furthermore, the spatial bifurcation of vortex lines and the generation and annihilation of monopoles are also discussed. At last, we point out that the Hopf invaxiant is a proper topological invaxiant to describe the knotted solitons.     

Topological Knots in Quantum Spin Systems

Knot theory provides a powerful tool for understanding topological matters in biology, chemistry, and physics.Here knot theory is introduced to describe topological phases in a quantum spin system. Exactly solvable models with long-range interactions are investigated, and Majorana modes of the quantum spin system are mapped into different knots and links. The topological properties of ground states of the spin system are visualized and characterized using crossing and linking numbers, which capture the geometric topologies of knots and links. The interactivity of energy bands is highlighted. In gapped phases, eigenstate curves are tangled and braided around each other, forming links. In gapless phases, the tangled eigenstate curves may form knots. Our findings provide an alternative understanding of phases in the quantum spin system, and provide insights into one-dimension topological phases of matter.     

Space-time geometry of topological phases

The 2 + 1 dimensional lattice models of Levin and Wen (2005) [1] provide the most general known microscopic construction of topological phases of matter. Based heavily on the mathematical structure of category theory, many of the special properties of these models are not obvious. In the current paper, we present a geometrical space-time picture of the partition function of the Levin-Wen models which can be described as doubles (two copies with opposite chiralities) of underlying anyon theories. Our space-time picture describes the partition function as a knot invariant of a complicated link, where both the lattice variables of the microscopic Levin-Wen model and the terms of the Hamiltonian are represented as labeled strings of this link. This complicated link, previously studied in the mathematical literature, and known as Chain-Mail, can be related directly to known topological invariants of 3-manifolds such as the so-called Turaev-Viro invariant and the Witten-Reshitikhin-Turaev invariant. We further consider quasi-particle excitations of the Levin-Wen models and we see how they can be understood by adding additional strings to the Chain-Mail link representing quasi-particle world-lines. Our construction gives particularly important new insight into how a doubled theory arises from these microscopic models.     

Exactly soluble diffeomorphism invariant theories

A class of diffeomorphism invariant theories is described for which the Hilbert space of quantum states can be explicitly constructed. These theories can be formulated in any dimension and include Witten's solution to 2+1 dimensional gravity as a special case. Higher dimensional generalizations exist which start with an action similar to the Einstein action inn dimensions. Many of these theories do not involve a spacetime metric and provide examples of topological quantum field theories. One is a version of Yang-Mills theory in which the only quantum states onS ³×R are the vacua. Finally it is shown that the three dimensional Chern-Simons theory (which Witten has shown is intimately connected with knot theory) arises naturally from a four dimensional topological gauge theory.On leave from the Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA     

Observation of Topological Links Associated with Hopf Insulators in a Solid-State Quantum Simulator

Hopf insulators are intriguing three-dimensional topological insulators characterized by an integer topological invariant. They originate from the mathematical theory of Hopf fibration and epitomize the deep connection between knot theory and topological phases of matter, which distinguishes them from other classes of topological insulators. Here, we implement a model Hamiltonian for Hopf insulators in a solid-state quantum simulator and report the first experimental observation of their topological properties,including nontrivial topological links associated with the Hopf fibration and the integer-valued topological invariant obtained from a direct tomographic measurement. Our observation of topological links and Hopf fibration in a quantum simulator opens the door to probe rich topological properties of Hopf insulators in experiments. The quantum simulation and probing methods are also applicable to the study of other intricate three-dimensional topological model Hamiltonians.     

Topological solitons in active optical cavities: Fundamental properties and possible applications

Fundamental properties of topological spatial solitons existing in active cavities with high (above 100) Fresnel numbers, laser and/or parametric amplification, and saturated absorber were numerically and experimentally studied. Writing and erasing of bi- and tristable laser solitons (fundamental solitons [1, 2] and vortex solitons [3]) using an external control light pulse were considered in various regions of the laser cross section. The existence of optical domain walls (separated phase domains which are in antiphase) in the form of expanding spiral waves and the localized domain soliton rotating about the Neel defect (in this connection, we called it the “Neel soliton”) in active cavities with mixed laser and parametric amplification was shown in a numerical experiment for the first time. We proposed potential possibilities of using topological solitons in optical data processing, storage, and transmission.     

Effective field theory of a topological insulator and the Foldy–Wouthuysen transformation

Employing the Foldy–Wouthuysen transformation, it is demonstrated straightforwardly that the first and second Chern numbers are equal to the coefficients of the 2+1 and 4+1 dimensional Chern–Simons actions which are generated by the massive Dirac fermions coupled to the Abelian gauge fields. A topological insulator model in 2+1 dimensions is discussed and by means of a dimensional reduction approach the 1+1 dimensional descendant of the 2+1 dimensional Chern–Simons theory is presented. Field strength of the Berry gauge field corresponding to the 4+1 dimensional Dirac theory is explicitly derived through the Foldy–Wouthuysen transformation. Acquainted with it, the second Chern numbers are calculated for specific choices of the integration domain. A method is proposed to obtain 3+1 and 2+1 dimensional descendants of the effective field theory of the 4+1 dimensional time reversal invariant topological insulator theory. Inspired by the spin Hall effect in graphene, a hypothetical model of the time reversal invariant spin Hall insulator in 3+1 dimensions is proposed.     

Solitonic fullerene structures in light atomic nuclei

The Skyrme model is a classical field theory which has topological soliton solutions. These solitons are candidates for describing nuclei, with an identification between the numbers of solitons and nucleons. We have computed numerically, using two different minimization algorithms, minimum energy configurations for up to 22 solitons. We find, remarkably, that the solutions for seven or more solitons have nucleon density isosurfaces in the form of polyhedra made of hexagons and pentagons. Precisely these structures arise, though at the much larger molecular scale, in the chemistry of carbon shells, where they are known as fullerenes.     

Metastable tight knots in a wormlike polymer

Based on an estimate of the knot entropy of a wormlike chain we predict that the interplay of bending energy and confinement entropy will result in a compact metastable configuration of the knot that will diffuse, without spreading, along the contour of the semiflexible polymer until it reaches one of the chain ends. Our estimate of the size of the knot as a function of its topological invariant (ideal aspect ratio) agrees with recent experimental results of knotted dsDNA. Further experimental tests of our ideas are proposed.     

Topological investigation of the fractionally quantized Hall conductivity

Using the fiber bundle concept developed in geometry and topology, the fractionally quantized Hall conductivity is discussed in the relevant many-particle configuration space. Electronmagnetic field and electron-electron interactions under FQHE conditions are treated as functional connections over the torus, the torus being the underlying two-dimensional manifold. Relations to the (2 + 1)-dimensional Chern-Simons theory are indicated. The conductivity being a topological invariant is given as e²/h times a linking number which is the quotient of the winding numbers of the self-consistent field and the magnetic field, respectively. Odd denominators are explained by the two spin structures which have been considered for the FQHE correlated electron system.     

Thermodynamics and topology of disordered systems: Statistics of the random knot diagrams on finite lattices

The statistical properties of random lattice knots, the topology of which is determined by the algebraic topological Jones-Kauffman invariants, was studied by analytical and numerical methods. The Kauffman polynomial invariant of a random knot diagram was represented by a partition function of the Potts model with a random configuration of ferro-and antiferromagnetic bonds, which allowed the probability distribution of the random dense knots on a flat square lattice over topological classes to be studied. A topological class is characterized by the highest power of the Kauffman polynomial invariant and interpreted as the free energy of a q-component Potts spin system for q→∞. It is shown that the highest power of the Kauffman invariant correlates with the minimum energy of the corresponding Potts spin system. The probability of the lattice knot distribution over topological classes was studied by the method of transfer matrices, depending on the type of local junctions and the size of the flat knot diagram. The results obtained are compared to the probability distribution of the minimum energy of a Potts system with random ferro-and antiferromagnetic bonds.     

Topological quantum field theories on manifolds with a boundary

We consider a class of exactly soluble topological quantum field theories on manifolds with a boundary that are invariant on-shell under diffeomorphisms which preserve the boundary. After showing that the functional integral of the two-point function with boundary conditions yields precisely the linking number, we use it to derive topological properties of the linking number. Considering gauge fixing, we obtain exact results of the partition function (Ray-Singer torsion of manifolds with a boundary) and theN-point functions in closed expressions.     

Composite multihump vector solitons carrying topological charge

We propose composite solitons carrying topological charge: multicomponent two dimensional [ (2+1)D] vector (Manakov-like) solitons for which at least one component carries topological charge. These multimode solitons can have a single hump or exhibit a multihump structure. The "spin" carried by these multimode composite solitons suggests 3D soliton interactions in which the particlelike behavior includes spin, in addition to effective mass, linear, and angular momenta.