Introduction to Topological Defects and Solitons

Jonathan Selinger is Professor of Physics and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Theoretical Liquid Crystal Physics at Kent State University. His research focuses on liquid crystals and other soft materials, and seeks to make connections between fundamental statistical mechanics and technological applications.Selinger studied physics at Harvard University, receiving his A.B. in 1983 and Ph.D. in 1989. He then did postdoctoral research in Los Angeles, with positions at the UCLA Department of Physics and Caltech Department of Chemical Engineering. In 1992 he moved to the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, where he worked as Research Physicist in the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering. In 2005 he came to his current position at Kent State. In addition to these research and teaching positions, he has also served as Associate Editor of Physical Review E, responsible for the liquid-crystal section of the journal, and he is currently Treasurer of the International Liquid Crystal Society.Selinger's previous book is Introduction to the Theory of Soft Matter: From Ideal Gases to Liquid Crystals, published by Springer in 2016.

• Chapter 1. Introduction to Defects.- Chapter 2. Introduction to Solitons.- Chapter 3. Free Energy.- Chapter 4. Dynamics and Statistical Mechanics.- Chapter 5. Prequel to Defects: Variable Magnitude of Order.- Chapter 6. Further Issues: Defect Phase/Orientation, Charge Density, Curvature.- Chapter 7. 2D Nematic Order, Active Liquid Crystals.- Chapter 8. 3D Polar or Nematic Order.- Chapter 9. Defects in Crystals.- Chapter 10. 2D Measuring Surface: Hedgehogs, Skyrmions.- Chapter 11. 3D Measuring Surface: Hopfions.- Chapter 12. Phases With Regular Arrays of Defects or Solitons.