BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Knots in light and fluids - Irvine\, W (University of Chicago)
DTSTART:20120911T103000Z
DTEND:20120911T113000Z
UID:TALK39726@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mustapha Amrani
DESCRIPTION:To tie a shoelace into a knot is a relatively simple affair. T
 ying a knot in a field is a different story\, because the whole of space m
 ust be filled in a way that matches the knot being tied at the core. The p
 ossibility of such localized knottedness in a space-filling field has fasc
 inated physicists and mathematicians ever since Kelvin?s 'vortex atom' \nh
 ypothesis\, in which the atoms of the periodic table were hypothesized to 
 correspond to closed vortex loops of different knot types. An intriguing p
 hysical manifestation of the interplay between knots and fields is the pos
 sibility of having knotted dynamical excitations. I will discuss some rema
 rkably intricate and stable topological structures that can exist in light
  fields whose evolution is governed entirely by the geometric structure of
  the field. A special solution based on a structure known as a Robinson Co
 ngruence that was re-discovered in different contexts will serve as a basi
 s for the discussion. I will then turn to hydrodynamics and discuss topolo
 gically non-trivial vortex configurations in fluids.\n\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Newton Institute Gatehouse
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR