Abstract.
Topological defects, unique point/line/surface objects, emerge during phase transitions where a continuous symmetry is broken, revealing fascinating phenomena across various physical systems.
These defects are pivotal in understanding and manipulating a range of materials, from Bose-Einstein condensates, where vortex nucleation marks the onset of quantum turbulence, to nematic liquid crystals, where disclinations historically provided crucial evidence of the nematic phase's existence altogether, and solid crystals, where dislocations are key in the transition from elastic to plastic deformation (i.e., the transition from me trying my best to bend a metal rod to John Cena making a balloon animal out of it).
In this talk, I will present a unified method to characterize these defects across different systems, emphasizing their topological properties. Additionally, I will introduce 'comfit', our computational framework, which streamlines the implementation of computational field theories, which can readily be applied to quantum physics, active nematic liquid crystals, and solid crystal plasticity.
(Unless this is a blackboard talk, the slides will be available here)