Topological solitons in helical strings

Cristiano Nisoli and Alexander V. Balatsky
Phys. Rev. E 91, 062601 – Published 25 June 2015
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Abstract

The low-energy physics of (quasi)degenerate one-dimensional systems is typically understood as the particle-like dynamics of kinks between stable, ordered structures. Such dynamics, we show, becomes highly nontrivial when the ground states are topologically constrained: a dynamics of the domains rather than on the domains which the kinks separate. Motivated by recently reported observations of charged polymers physio-adsorbed on nanotubes, we study kinks between helical structures of a string wrapping around a cylinder. While their motion cannot be disentangled from domain dynamics, and energy and momentum is not concentrated in the solitons, the dynamics of the domains can be folded back into a particle-like description of the local excitations.

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  • Received 25 November 2014
  • Revised 14 March 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.91.062601

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Cristiano Nisoli1,* and Alexander V. Balatsky1,2

  • 1Theoretical Division and Institute for Material Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
  • 2Nordita, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

  • *cristiano.nisoli@gmail.com, cristiano@lanl.gov

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Issue

Vol. 91, Iss. 6 — June 2015

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