Speaker: Cristian Batista, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Abstract: Building on Hermann von Helmholtz’s ideas, William Thomson proposed in 1867 that atoms could be vortices in the aether. Although later experiments dismissed this notion, the idea of topological solitons as fundamental or artificial atoms remains compelling. Since the 1960s, evidence has mounted for modern analogues to the aether concept. In quantum magnets, this “aether” takes the form of a vector field of magnetic moments, where topological solitons emerge as mesoscale analogs of atoms. Like real atoms, these solitons arrange themselves into periodic arrays or “crystals,” governed by symmetry, anisotropy, and competing microscopic interactions. These magnetic textures produce an effective magnetic field that, when coupled to the orbital motion of conduction electrons, can reach extreme magnitudes. We will explore how these topological magnetic structures emerge in real materials and how the quantum nature of spins can give rise to a broader range of skyrmion textures, such as the one shown in the figure, extending beyond those observed to date.