Cas Chaudhuri (University of Leeds) – A Survey of (Topological) Solitons

Abstract: Solitons are solutions to field equations arising from classical field theory that are localised in some sense, topological solitons are those which are stabilised by topological features of the target space. They are used to model a wide variety of physical phenomena, and often have a rich geometric and dynamical structure. In this talk we will take a tour through soliton theory, describing some important topological solitons and their key features. Time permitting, we will discuss some connections between the existence of solitons and the geometry of the underlying space.