Discover
/
Article

In a Two‐Dimensional Electron System, the Skyrmion’s the Limit

JUL 01, 1995
A sensitive nmr technique has found evidence for skyrmions in a two‐dimensional electron system and challenged our understanding of the quantum Hall effects.

Skyrmions—which can be thought of, loosely, as topological twists or kinks in a spin space—are one of those concepts that seem to jump restlessly from field to field. Technically, in a nonlinear field theory a Skyrmion is defined as a soliton with spin and statistics different from those of the underlying fields. Introduced by Tony H. R. Skyrme in 1958 as a way of representing the nucleon (a fermion) as a topological soliton of bosonic pion fields, skyrmions have sojourned in nuclear physics, particle physics and condensed matter physics.

This article is only available in PDF format

Related content
/
Article
In the closest thing yet obtained to a movie of a breaking chemical bond, there’s a surprise ending.
This Content Appeared In
pt-cover_1995_07.jpeg

Volume 48, Number 7

Get PT in your inbox

pt_newsletter_card_blue.png
PT The Week in Physics

A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.

pt_newsletter_card_darkblue.png
PT New Issue Alert

Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.

pt_newsletter_card_pink.png
PT Webinars & White Papers

The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.

By signing up you agree to allow AIP to send you email newsletters. You further agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.