Topological order and phases represent an exciting research frontier [1], though knots in fields
were postulated to behave like particles already starting from the times of Gauss and Kelvin. I will
describe energetically stable solitonic knots that emerge in the physical fields of chiral liquid
crystals, colloids and magnets, as well as topologically nontrivial colloidal particles dispersed in
ordered nematic media like nematic liquid crystals. While spatially localized and freely diffusing
in all directions, they all behave like atoms, self-assembling into crystalline lattices as well as
forming low-symmetry mesophases and gas- or liquid-like states. I will discuss their stability in
solid-state, molecular and colloidal systems of different symmetries and will show how external
fields can switch and control such solitonic and colloidal objects while preserving their topology
and reconfiguring their self-assembly. Finally, I will discuss how the emergent paradigm of
knotted chiral meta matter could allow for imparting new designable material properties and
physical behavior.
1. I. I. Smalyukh. Rep. Prog. Phys. 83, 106601 (2020)
Ivan I. Smalyukh is a tenured professor at the Department of Physics, University of Colorado
at Boulder, which he joined in 2007 (promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor with tenure
in 2014 and from Associate to Full Professor in 2017). He is also the Director of the International
Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter, as well as the founding fellow of
Renewable Sustainable Energy Institute, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and NREL. He is an
elected fellow of APS, AAAS, Optica and SPIE. He received many awards, including the Bessel
and Glenn Brown Awards, Gray Medal, NASA iTech award and Mid-Career Award of the
International Liquid Crystal Society, the PECASE Award from the Office of Science and
Technology of the White House and the GSoft Award from the American Physical Society
Topological order and phases represent an exciting research frontier [1], though knots in fields
were postulated to behave like particles already starting from the times of Gauss and Kelvin. I will
describe energetically stable solitonic knots that emerge in the physical fields of chiral liquid
crystals, colloids and magnets, as well as topologically nontrivial colloidal particles dispersed in
ordered nematic media like nematic liquid crystals. While spatially localized and freely diffusing
in all directions, they all behave like atoms, self-assembling into crystalline lattices as well as
forming low-symmetry mesophases and gas- or liquid-like states. I will discuss their stability in
solid-state, molecular and colloidal systems of different symmetries and will show how external
fields can switch and control such solitonic and colloidal objects while preserving their topology
and reconfiguring their self-assembly. Finally, I will discuss how the emergent paradigm of
knotted chiral meta matter could allow for imparting new designable material properties and
physical behavior.
1. I. I. Smalyukh. Rep. Prog. Phys. 83, 106601 (2020)
Ivan I. Smalyukh is a tenured professor at the Department of Physics, University of Colorado
at Boulder, which he joined in 2007 (promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor with tenure
in 2014 and from Associate to Full Professor in 2017). He is also the Director of the International
Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter, as well as the founding fellow of
Renewable Sustainable Energy Institute, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and NREL. He is an
elected fellow of APS, AAAS, Optica and SPIE. He received many awards, including the Bessel
and Glenn Brown Awards, Gray Medal, NASA iTech award and Mid-Career Award of the
International Liquid Crystal Society, the PECASE Award from the Office of Science and
Technology of the White House and the GSoft Award from the American Physical Society
