Topology and critical properties of divergenceless ferroic textures

Session Information

Location: amf. P7 | "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iași (TUIAȘI)
Day: 2. Tuesday 16
Time: 14:30-15:30
Chairperson: Dennis Meier

Presentation Details

Presentation Type: Oral presentation
Title: Topology and critical properties of divergenceless ferroic textures
Abstract: In nanoscale ferroic materials, the order parameter is often subject to local constraints that restrict its allowed configurations. For example, electrostatic interactions enforce a charge-neutrality condition on the electric polarization P, ∇·P = 0, which prevents polarization streamlines from beginning or ending inside the ferroelectric material [1]. This divergenceless constraint provides a natural topological framework for understanding the complex polarization patterns, such as polar vortices and hopfions, observed in nanoscale ferroelectrics. Remarkably, it also drives the system to a distinct universality class with strongly enhanced fluctuations and an unusually large anomalous dimension, demonstrating that topology alone can reshape critical behavior in otherwise conventional ferroic systems [2].

1. I. A. Lukyanchuk, A. G. Razumnaya, S. Kondovych, et al., Phys. Rep. 1110, 1 (2025).
2. S. Kondovych, A. Sudbø, and F. S. Nogueira, Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013186 (2026).

Presenter

Dr Svitlana Kondovych
Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) Dresden | Germany

Authors

1. Kondovych, Svitlana | Institute for Theoretical Solid State Physics, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, Helmholzstraße 20, D-01069 Dresden, Germany