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Topological defects

Topology in superposition

Topological defects are encountered in fields ranging from condensed-matter physics to cosmology. These broken-symmetry objects are intrinsically local, but theoretical work now suggests that non-local quantum superpositions of such local defects might arise in a quantum phase transition.

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Figure 1: Last domino standing.

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Correspondence to K. Birgitta Whaley.

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Whaley, K. Topology in superposition. Nature Phys 8, 9–10 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2186

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