Linking two smoke rings or tying a single ring into a knot is no easy feat. Now, however, such topological vortices are created in water using 3D-printed hydrofoils. High-speed imaging shows how the linked rings spontaneously separate, and the knots are able to free themselves. Similar fluid dynamics may also be relevant in plasmas, quantum fluids and optics.
- Dustin Kleckner
- William T. M. Irvine
