Knotted vortices
Knots in a fluid, from Kelvin’s old idea to laboratory vortex rings.
Does not pick a knot
This page does not pick a knot for you. DNA, molecules, quantum braids and vortices stay off Decide.
Watch the mechanism
Knots tied in a fluid
A knotted vortex is the one object in the essays you cannot picture from a description. The laboratory footage is the argument.
- Kleckner and Irvine making and tracking a knotted vortex in waterThe University of Chicago · Opens on YouTube
A Vortex Tied in Knots: UChicago physicists succeed in creating a vortex knot
External video from a creator we follow — not produced by us.
Loads only when you press play
What it means
Kelvin once hoped atoms were knotted vortices. The atomic theory died. Knotted vortices are still real in fluids: Kleckner & Irvine (2013) created and tracked them in the laboratory. The object is a closed vortex line in a fluid, not a working rope.
What it predicts
- ·A vortex line can be tied into a closed knot and persist for a measurable time.
- ·Topology of the vortex is a fluid-dynamics observable.
What it does not predict
- ·It does not describe a cleat hitch.
- ·It does not describe DNA or a suture.
- ·It does not change what Decide recommends.
Not for
- ·Any rope, leader or terminal we cover
- ·Anything Decide or Diagnose reads
This essay is not about a fishing or boat knot we cover.
- Kleckner & Irvine — Creation and dynamics of knotted vortices (Nature Physics, 2013) — Knotted vortices in a fluid. No bearing on a cleat hitch.
- Knot — practical vs mathematical (Wikipedia) — Closed-curve knot theory ignores friction. Practical knots are classified by function.