Effect of Disclination Lines on Free Energy of Nematic Liquid Crystals

In the light of φ-mapping method and topological current theory, the effect of disclination lines on the free energy density of nematic liquid crystals is studied. It is pointed out that the total Frank free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the saddle-splay energy density, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to be topologically quantized in the unit of kπ /2 when the Jacobian determinant of the director field does not vanish at the singularities of the director field. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director field at the disclination lines, i.e., the disclination strengthes. When the Jacobian determinant vanishes, the generation, annihilation, intersection, splitting and merging processes of the saddle-splay energy density are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points, respectively. It is shown that the disclination line with high topological quantum number is unstable and will evolve to the low topological quantum number states through the splitting process.     

Effect of Disclination Lines on Free Energy of Nematic Liquid Crystals

In the light of φ-mapping method-and topological current theory, the effect of disclination lines on the free energy density of nematic liquid crystals is studied. It is pointed out that the total Frank free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the saddle-splay energy density, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to he topologically quantized in the unit of kπ/2 when the Jacobian determinant of the director field does not vanish at the singularities of the director field. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director field at the disclination lines, i.e., the disclination strengthes. When the Jacobian determinant vanishes, the generation, annihilation, intersection, splitting and merging processes of the saddle-splay energy density are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points, respectively. It is shown that the disclination line with high topological quantum number is unstable and will evolve to the low topological quantum number states through the splitting process.     

Contribution of Disclination Lines to Free Energy of Liquid Crystals in Single-Elastic Constant Approximation

In the light of φ-mapping method and topological current theory, the contribution of disclination lines to free energy density of liquid crystals is studied in the single-elastic constant approximation. It is pointed out that the total free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the usual distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the free energy density of disclination lines themselves, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to be topologically quantized in the unit of kπ /2. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director field at the disclination lines, i.e. the disclination strengths. From the Lagrange‘s method of multipliers, the equilibrium equation and the molecular field of liquid crystals are also obtained. The physical meaning of the Lagrangian multiplier is just the distorted energy density.     

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.     

Contribution of Disclination Lines to Free Energy of Liquid Crystals in Single-Elastic Constant Approximation

In the light of C-mapping method and topological current theory, the contribution of disclination lines to free energy density of liquid crystals is studied in the single-elastic constant approximation. It is pointed out that the total free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the usual distorted energy density of director field around the disclination lines. The other is the free energy density of disclination lines themselves, which is shown to be centralized at the disclination lines and to be topologically quantized in the unit of kn/2. The topological quantum numbers are determined by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees of the director l~eld at the disclination lines, i.e. the disclination strengths. From the Lagrange‘s method of multipliers, the equilibrium equation and the molecular field ofliquid crystals are also obtained. The physical meaning of the Lagrangian multiplier is just the distorted energy density.     

The Branch Process of Skyrmions in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

The branch process of the skyrmions in the fractional quantum Hall effect is studied from the Ф-mapping topological current. It is shown that there exists a field ζ whose Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees characterize the topological structure of the skyrmions. Based on the bifurcation theory of the Ф-mapping theory, it is found that the skyrmions can be generated or annihilated at the limit points and they encounter, split or merge at thebifurcation points of the new field ζ.     

Evolution of Spiral Waves in Excitable Systems

Spiral waves, whose rotation center can be regarded as a point defect, widely exist in various two-dimensional excitable systems. In this paper, by making use of Duan＇s topological current theory, we obtain the charge density of spiral waves and the topological inner structure of its topological charge. The evolution of spiral wave is also studied from the topological properties of a two-dimensional vector field. The spiral waves are found generating or annihilating at the limit points and encountering, splitting, or merging at the bifurcation points of the two-dimensional vector field. Some applications of our theory are also discussed.     

Branch Processes of Regular Magnetic Monopole

In this paper, by making use of Duan＇s topological current theory, the branch process of regular magnetic monopoles is discussed in detail. Regular magnetic monopoles are found generating or annihilating at the limit point and encountering, splitting, or merging at the bifurcation point and the degenerate point systematically of the vector order parameter field φ（x）. Furthermore, it is also shown that when regular magnetic monopoles split or merge at the degenerate point of field function φ, the total topological charges of the regular magnetic monopoles are stilI unchanged.     

Self-dual Vortices in Schroedinger-Chern-Simons Model

By making use of the U（1） gauge potential decomposition theory and the Ф-mapping topological current theory, we investigate the Schroedinger-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 Ф.     

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.     

Topological Aspects of Liquid Crystals

Using -mapping method and topological current theory, the properties and behaviors of disclination points in three-dimensional liquid crystals are studied. By introducing the strength density and the topological current of many disclination points, the total disclination strength is topologically quantized by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees at the singularities of the general director field when the Jacobian determinant of the general director field does not vanish. When the Jacobian determinant vanishes, the origin, annihilation, and bifurcation of disclination points are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit point and bifurcation point, respectively. The branch solutions at the limit point and the different directions of all branch curves at the first- and second-order degenerated points are calculated. It is pointed out that a disclination point with a higher strength is unstable and will evolve to the lower strength state through the bifurcation process. An original disclination point can split into at most four disclination points at one time.     

The Topological Quantization and Bifurcation of strings in Early Universe

We present a new topological invariant to describe the spacetime defect in Riemann- Cartan manifold. By means of the φ-mapping theory and the rank-two topological tensor current (associated to the new topological invariant), we show that there must exist many string objects which naturally generated from the zero points of φ-mapping and is quantized in the topological level under the condition that the Jacobian J(φ/ν) ≠ 0. When J (φ/ν) = 0, we find that there exists a crucial case of branch process. Based on the implicit function theorem and the Taylor expansion, the origin and bifurcation of the strings are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points of φ-mapping, respectively.     

The Origin and Bifurcation of the Space-Time Defects in the Early Universe

In the early universe, a new topological invariant is interpreted as the space-time dislocation flux and is quantized in the topological level. By extending to a topological current of dislocations, the dynamic form of the defects is obtained under the condition that the Jacobian determinant D(/u) 0. When D(/u) = 0, it is shown that there exists the crucial case of branch process. Based on the implicit function theorem and the Taylor expansion, the origin and bifurcation of the space-time dislocations are detailed in the neighborhoods of the limit points and bifurcation points of -mapping, respectively. It is pointed out that, since the dislocation current is identically conserved, the total topological quantum numbers of the branched dislocation fluxes will remain constant during their origin and bifurcation processes, which are important in the early universe because of spontaneous symmetry breaking.     

The Bifurcation of Vortex Current in the Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau Model

By the method of φ-mapping topological current theory, the bifurcation behavior of the topological current is discussed in detail in the O(n) symmetrical time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model at the critical points of the order parameter field. The different directions of the branch curves at the critical point have been obtained.     

Stability of Disclinations in Nematic Liquid Crystals

In the light of φ-mapping method and topological current theory, the stability of disclinations around a spherical particle in nematic liquid crystals is studied. We consider two different defect structures around a spherical particle: disclination ring and point defect at the north or south pole of the particle. We calculate the free energy of these different defects in the elastic theory. It is pointed out that the total Frank free energy density can be divided into two parts. One is the distorted energy density of director field around the disclinations. The other is the free energy density of disclinations themselves, which is shown to be concentrated at the defect and to be topologically quantized in the unit of (k-k₂₄)π/2. It is shown that in the presence of saddle-splay elasticity a dipole (radial and hyperbolic hedgehog) configuration that accompanies a particle with strong homeotropic anchoring takes the structure of a small disclination ring, not a point defect.