Tootfinder

Fusion and Fission of Particle-like Chiral Nematic Vortex Knots
Darian Hall, Jung-Shen Benny Tai, Louis H. Kauffman, Ivan I. Smalyukh
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05841 https://…

Fusion and Fission of Particle-like Chiral Nematic Vortex Knots
Vortex knots have been seen decaying in many physical systems. Here we describe topologically protected vortex knots, which remain stable and undergo fusion and fission while conserving a topological invariant analogous to that of baryon number. While the host medium, a chiral nematic liquid crystal, exhibits intrinsic chirality, cores of the vortex lines are structurally achiral regions where twist cannot be defined. We refer to them as "dischiralation" vortex lines, in analogy to dislocations…