Skyrmions in condensed matter (Q1674250)

Skyrmions have become ubiquitous in condensed matter physics. They can be found in a wide variety of magnets, in spinor cold atoms and in liquid crystal. This book summarizes some of the most exciting theoretical developments in the topological phenomena of skyrmions in noncentrosymmetric magnetic systems over recent decades. Chapter 1 of this book deals with fundamental aspects of the modern theory of magnetism. Chapter 2 attempts to guide the readers through several concepts related to homotopy theory using explicit examples. Chapter 3 covers the fundamental theories that led to the prediction of the skyrmions phase in chiral theories. Skyrmion equations of motion is the content of Chapter 4.Skyrmion-electron interaction is examined in Chapter 5. Magnon dynamics is studied in Chapter 6.Chapter 7 explores the technological potential of ``engineering'' skyrmions through nucleating and tunnelling processes. Chapter 8 covers various topological excitations for the two simplest cases of spinor condensates made of two- and three-component spins.