Twisted curve geometry underlying topological invariants

TL;DR

This paper reveals that topological invariants like winding and linking numbers can be expressed as integrals of intrinsic geometric quantities such as torsion and twist of space curves, linking topology with geometry.

Contribution

It establishes a novel geometric interpretation of topological invariants in terms of torsion and twist, connecting them to intrinsic geometric quantities of space curves.

Findings

Winding number in 2D equals torsion of space curves.

In 3D, both torsion and twist are needed for topological invariants.

Application to a 3D ferromagnetic model supports the theoretical results.

Abstract

Topological invariants such as winding numbers and linking numbers appear as charges of topological solitons in diverse nonlinear physical systems described by a unit vector field defined on two and three dimensional manifolds. While the Gauss-Bonnet theorem shows that the Euler characteristic (a topological invariant) can be written as the integral of the Gaussian curvature (an intrinsic geometric quantity), the intriguing question of whether winding and linking numbers can also be expressed similarly as integrals of some intrinsic geometric quantities has not been addressed in the literature. In this paper we provide the answer by showing that for the winding number in two dimensions, these quantities are torsions of the two evolving space curves describing the manifold. On the other hand, in three dimensions we find that in addition to torsions, intrinsic twists of the space curves are necessary to obtain a nontrivial winding number and linking number. These new results arise from the hitherto unknown connections that we establish between these topological invariants and the corresponding appropriately normalized global anholonomies (i.e., geometric phases) associated with the unit vector fields on the respective manifolds. An application of our results to a 3D Heisenberg ferromagnetic model supporting a topological soliton is also presented.