Topological Spin Textures in Magnets

Skyrmions are topological solitons that were first discussed in quantum field theory in the 1960's. In recent years, through a series of beautiful experimental developments, they have become of great relevance to a variety of condensed matter systems, especially chiral magnetic materials. 

I will begin with a pedagogical introduction to skyrmions and explain how these topological spin textures arise in magnetic materials with broken inversion symmetry and spin-orbit coupling. I will next describe a variety of experiments that probe magnetic skyrmions, emphasizing their unusual properties and potential for applications in magnetic memories. I will conclude with some of our recent theoretical work on the stability of skyrmions in chiral magnets.