Magnetic vortices, magnetic textures characterized by their winding numbers of the in-plane magnetization component, hold considerable importance in both fundamental and applied physics. In perpendicularly magnetized disks, transient vortex excitations can be viewed as twisted spin waves, and it is generally considered that their winding numbers should be stable against time evolution. Here, however, we show that this is not the case in systems with discrete rotational symmetry, where a modular transmutation rule applies to the central winding number. We show that such a symmetry breaking can be induced by azimuthal modulation of material parameters in the disk. This work not only advances our understanding of transient vortex excitations, but also establishes symmetry as a novel degree of freedom for manipulating magnetic textures.

Close

PrevNext

View figure in article

• Magnetic vortices
• Magnetization dynamics
• Micromagnetism
• Spin waves