Vortex versus antivortex

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Originally shared by John Baez

Vortex versus antivortex

No, I'm not trying to hypnotize you!  These animations by Greg Egan show a vortex at left and an antivortex at right - two patterns that frequently occur in a 2-dimensional magnet if the spins are forced to lie in a plane.   Kosterlitz and Thouless just won the Nobel prize for their work on such magnets.

The pictures are changing with time, with each little vector rotating at a constant rate - but that's just to show that there are many different possible vortex configurations, and also many different antivortex configurations. 

For a better explanation, read my article:

https://johncarlosbaez.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/kosterlitz-thouless-transition/

I just wanted to show you these cool animations, which Egan added to the comments.  Also check out Simon Willerton's animations and Simon Burton's simulation!

#physics

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