TOPSTONE - Topological Solitons In Frustrated Magnets

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The field of one- and (quasi-)two-dimensional magnetic solitons has bloomed in recent years, especially due to the enormous progress made on domain walls and skyrmions in conventional (anti-)ferromagnets. Detection of stable three-dimensional solitons (e.g., hopfions) has, however, remained elusive in collinear magnetic systems due in part to the nature of the S^{2}-order parameter, therefore representing one of the grand challenges of spintronics nowadays. In this research project we aim at establishing magnetically frustrated systems as a new platform for the creation and manipulation of these topological textures. This versatile platform brings the advantage that its order-parameter manifold is provided by the group of rotation matrices and, consequently, the nature of the magnetic solitons/defects in frustrated magnets goes beyond that of the usual S^{2} paradigm. More specifically, our goal is to unravel and exploit the topological transport properties of these versatile platforms by constructing a general framework in which explore the onset, stability and dynamics of the emergent topological solitons. We will accomplish this challenging task by means of the following program: i) we will construct realistic minimal models for frustrated magnets that host (stable) solitons, and explore the mechanisms/channels for their topological relaxation, which, in turn, determine their (finite) lifetimes. ii) We will develop hydrodynamic/phenomenological theories for the topological charge and collective (spin-like) degrees of freedom of solitons rooted in the topological constraints present in this class of materials. iii) Electrically-based approaches will be utilized to control the magnetization and topological solitons in frustrated magnets. In particular, we will show that soliton-mediated transmission of spin signals displays a greater resilience against degradation (algebraic decay) than that of the usual magnon-mediated schemes (exponential decay), which offers promising perspectives to the field of soliton-based computing.