Three-dimensional crystals of adaptive knots

Abstract

Starting from Gauss and Kelvin, knots in fields were postulated behaving like particles, but experimentally they were found only as transient features or required complex boundary conditions to exist and couldn't self-assemble into three-dimensional crystals. We introduce energetically stable micrometer-sized knots in helical fields of chiral liquid crystals. While spatially localized and freely diffusing in all directions, they resemble colloidal particles and atoms, self-assembling into crystalline lattices with open and closed structures. These knots are robust and topologically distinct from the host medium, though they can be morphed and reconfigured by weak stimuli under conditions like in displays. A combination of energy-minimizing numerical modeling and optical imaging uncovers the internal structure and topology of individual helical field knots and various hierarchical crystalline organizations they form.