20.500.12556/RUL-169839 Emergent dimer-model topological order and quasiparticle excitations in liquid crystals: combinatorial vortex lattices Liquid crystals have proven to provide a versatile experimental and theoretical platform for studying topological objects such as vortices, skyrmions, and hopfions. In parallel, in hard condensed matter physics, the concept of topological phases and topological order has been introduced in the context of spin liquids to investigate emergent phenomena like quantum Hall effects and high-temperature superconductivity. Here, we bridge these two seemingly disparate perspectives on topology in physics. Combining experiments and simulations, we show how topological defects in liquid crystals can be used as versatile building blocks to create complex, highly degenerate topological phases, which we refer to as “combinatorial vortex lattices” (CVLs). CVLs exhibit extensive residual entropy and support locally stable quasiparticle excitations in the form of charge-conserving topological monopoles, which can act as mobile information carriers and be linked via Dirac strings. CVLs can be rewritten and reconfigured on demand, endowed with various symmetries, and modified through laser-induced topological surgery—an essential capability for information storage and retrieval. We demonstrate experimentally the realization, stability, and precise optical manipulation of CVLs, thus opening new avenues for understanding and technologically exploiting higher-hierarchy topology in liquid crystals and other ordered media. soft matter physics liquid crystals topological defects combinatorial vortex lattices fizika mehke snovi tekoči kristali topološki defekti true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2025-06-12 11:22:05 2025-06-12 11:22:06 2025-06-13 04:33:43 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Str. 021084-1-021084-18 iss. 2 Vol. 15 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 538.9 2160-3308 10.1103/PhysRevX.15.021084 239126531 PhysRevX.15.021084.pdf PhysRevX.15.021084.pdf 1 B403EC5F3C2F05A501639C4291B33CE2 4407e69955b497221f894c19a13bee4d7a56eb5567611d4524e1780ade9029d2 99c44aa3-476e-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=211562 https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.15.021084 0 a28c2676-476e-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=211563 Fakulteta za matematiko in fiziko 0 0 0