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.     

Topological surface States in three-dimensional magnetic insulators

An electron moving in a magnetically ordered background feels an effective magnetic field that can be both stronger and more rapidly varying than typical externally applied fields. One consequence is that insulating magnetic materials in three dimensions can have topologically nontrivial properties of the effective band structure. For the simplest case of two bands, these "Hopf insulators" are characterized by a topological invariant as in quantum Hall states and Z2 topological insulators, but instead of a Chern number or parity, the underlying invariant is the Hopf invariant that classifies maps from the three-sphere to the two-sphere. This Letter gives an efficient algorithm to compute whether a given magnetic band structure has nontrivial Hopf invariant, a double-exchange-like tight-binding model that realizes the nontrivial case, and a numerical study of the surface states of this model.     

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.     

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.     

Topological Invariant in Riemann–Cartan Manifold and Space-Time Defects

In a Riemann–Cartan manifold a topologicalinvariant is constructed in terms of the torsion tensor.Using the -mapping method and the completedecomposition of the gauge potential, the topologicalinvariant is extricated from a strong restrictivecondition and is quantized in units of an elementarylength. This topological invariant is linked to thefirst Chern class and its inner structure is labeled bya set of winding numbers. In the early universe,by extending to a gauge parallel basis in internal spaceand four analogous topological invariants, thespace-time defects are formulated in an invariant form and are quantized naturally in units of thePlanck length.     

Vortex lines in a ferromagnetic spin-triplet superconductor

Based on Duan's topological current theory, we show that in a ferromagnetic spin-triplet superconductor there is a topological defect of string structures which can be interpreted as vortex lines. Such defects are different from the Abrikosov vortices in one-component condensate systems. We investigate the inner topological structure of the vortex lines. The topological charge density, velocity, and topological current of the vortex lines can all be expressed in terms of δ function, which indicates that the vortices can only arise from the zero points of an order parameter field. The topological charges of vortex lines are quantized in terms of the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of φ-mapping. The divergence of the self-induced magnetic field can be rigorously determined by the corresponding order parameter fields and its expression also takes the form of a δ-like function. Finally, based on the implicit function theorem and the Taylor expansion, we conduct detailed studies on the bifurcation of vortex topological current and find different directions of the bifurcation.     

Parity violation in a single domain of spin-triplet Sr2RuO4 superconductors

We observed an unconventional parity-violating vortex in single domain Sr₂RuO₄ single crystals using a transport measurement. The current–voltage characteristics of submicron Sr₂RuO₄ show that the induced voltage has anomalous components which are even functions of the bias current. The results may suggest that the vortex itself has a helical internal structure characterized by a Hopf invariant (a topological invariant). We also discuss that the hydrodynamics of such a helical vortex causes the parity violation to retain the topological invariant.     

Topological quantization of disclination points in three—dimensional liquid crystals

Using the φ-mapping method and topological current theory, we study the inner structure of disclination points in three-dimensional liquid crystals. By introducing the strength density and the topological current of many disclination points, it is pointed out that the disclination points are determined by the singularities of the general director field and they are topologically quantized by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees.     

Visualizing the charge order and topological defects in an overdoped （Bi,Pb）2Sr2CuO6+x superconductor

Electronic charge order is a symmetry breaking state in high-Tc cuprate superconductors. In scanning tunneling microscopy, the detected charge-order-induced modulation is an electronic response of the charge order. For an overdoped(Bi,Pb)2Sr2CuO6+x sample, we apply scanning tunneling microscopy to explore local properties of the charge order. The ordering wavevector is nondispersive with energy, which can be confirmed and determined. By extracting its order-parameter field, we identify dislocations in the stripe structure of the electronic modulation, which correspond to topological defects with an integer winding number of ±1. Through differential conductance maps over a series of reduced energies, the development of different response of the charge order is observed and a spatial evolution of topological defects is detected. The intensity of charge-order-induced modulation increases with energy and reaches its maximum when approaching the pseudogap energy. In this evolution, the topological defects decrease in density and migrate in space. Furthermore, we observe appearance and disappearance of closely spaced pairs of defects as energy changes. Our experimental results could inspire further studies of the charge order in both high-Tccuprate superconductors and other charge density wave materials.     

Inner Structure of Entropy of Reissner–Nordström Black Holes

Using the relationship between the entropy and the Euler characteristic, and the usual decomposition of spin connection, an entropy density is introduced to describe the inner structure of the entropy of RN black holes. It is pointed out that the entropy of RN black holes is determined by the singularities of the timelike Killing vector field of RN spacetime, and that these singularities carry the topological numbers, Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees, naturally, which are topological invariants. Taking account of the physical meaning of entropy in statistics, the entropy and its density of RN black holes are modified and they are given by the Hopf indices merely.     

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.     

Bifurcation of Vortex Density Current in Trapped Bose Condensates

Vortex density current in the Gross-Pitaevskii theory is studied. It is shown that the inner structure of the topological vortices can be classified by Brouwer degrees and Hopf indices of φ-mapping. The dynamical equations of vortex density current have been given. The bifurcation behavior at the critical points of the current is discussed in detail.     

Topological hierarchy matters — topological matters with superlattices of defects

Topological insulators/superconductors are new states of quantum matter with metallic edge/surface states.In this paper,we review the defects effect in these topological states and study new types of topological matters — topological hierarchy matters.We find that both topological defects(quantized vortices) and non topological defects(vacancies) can induce topological mid-gap states in the topological hierarchy matters after considering the superlattice of defects.These topological mid-gap states have nontrivial topological properties,including the nonzero Chern number and the gapless edge states.Effective tight-binding models are obtained to describe the topological mid-gap states in the topological hierarchy matters.     

Topological Aspects of Superconductors at Dual Point

We study the properties of the Ginzburg-Landau model at the dual point for the superconductors. By making use of the U（1） gauge potential decomposition and the φ-mapping theory, we investigate the topological inner structure of the Bogomol＇nyi equations and deduce a modified decoupled Bogomol＇nyi equation with a nontrivial topological term, which is ignored in conventional model. We find that the nontrivial topological term is closely related to the N-vortex, which arises from the zero points of the complex scalar field, Furthermore, we establish a relationship between Ginzburg Landau free energy and the winding number.     

Strings and the Gauge Theory of Spacetime Defects

We present a new topological invariant todescribe space-time defects which is closely related tothe torsion tensor in a Riemann–Cartan manifold.By virtue of the topological current theory and-mapping method, we show that there must existmultistring objects generated from the zero points ofthe -mapping. These strings are topologicallyquantized. The topological quantum numbers are thewinding numbers described by the Hopf indices and the Brouwerdegrees of the -mapping.     

Self-dual Vortices in Schrödinger-Chern-Simons Model

By making use of the U(1) gauge potential decomposition theory and the φ-mapping topological current theory, we investigate the Schrödinger-Chern-Simons model in the thin-film superconductor system and obtain an exact Bogomolny self-dual equation with a topological term. It is revealed that there exist self-dual vortices in the system. We study the inner topological structure of the self-dual vortices and show that their topological charges are topologically quantized and labeled by Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees. Furthermore, the vortices are found generating or annihilating at the limit points and encountering, splitting or merging at the bifurcation points of the vector field φ.     

Topological Defects in Liquid Crystal Films

A topological theory of liquid crystal films in the presence of defects is developed based on the Ф-mapping topological current theory. By generalizing the free-energy density in ＂one-constant＂ approximation, a covariant free- energy density is obtained, from which the U（1） gauge field and the unified topological current for monopoles and strings in liquid crystals are derived. The inner topological structure of these topological defects is characterized by the winding numbers of Ф-mapping.     

Topology in Entropy of Schwarzschild Black Hole

In the light of -mapping method and the relationship between the entropy and the Euler characteristic, the inner topological structure of the entropy of Schwarzschild black hole is studied. By introducing an entropy density, it is shown that the entropy of Schwarzschild black hole is determined by the singularities of the timelike Killing vector field of spacetime and these singularities carry the topological numbers, Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees, naturally. Taking account of the statistical meaning of entropy in physics, the entropy of Schwarzschild black hole is merely the sum of the Hopf indices, which will give the increasing law of entropy of black holes.     

Knot solitons in AFZ model

This paper studies the topological properties of knotted solitons in the (3+1)-dimensional Aratyn--Ferreira--Zimerman (AFZ) model. Topologically, these solitons are characterized by the Hopf invariant I, which is an integral class in the homotopy group π₃(S³)=Z. By making use of the decomposition of U(1) gauge potential theory and Duan's topological current theory, it is shown that the invariant is just the total sum of all the self-linking and linking numbers of the knot family while only linking numbers are considered in other papers. Furthermore, it is pointed out that this invariant is preserved in the branch processes (splitting, merging and intersection) of these knot vortex lines.