Splitting, linking, knotting, and solitonic escape of topological defects in nematic drops with handles

摘要: Topologically nontrivial field excitations, including solitonic, linked, and knotted structures, play important roles in physical systems ranging from classical fluids liquid crystals, to electromagnetism, classic, quantum theories. These excitations can appear spontaneously during symmetry-breaking phase transitions. For example, cosmological theories, cosmic strings may have formed configurations influencing the Early Universe development, whereas crystals transient tangled defect lines were observed isotropic–nematic transitions, eventually relaxing defect-free states. Knotted solitonic fields defects also obtained using optical manipulation, complex-shaped colloids, frustrated cholesterics. Here we use confinement of nematic crystal by closed surfaces with varied genus perpendicular boundary conditions for a robust control appearance stability such excitations. Theoretical modeling experiments reveal structure as function surface topology material geometric parameters, establishing means controlling knotted, other