Topology, Magnetic Field, and Strongly Interacting Matter

Abstract

Gauge theories with compact symmetry groups possess topologically nontrivial configurations of gauge field. This characteristic has dramatic implications for the vacuum structure of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and for the behavior of QCD plasma, as well as for condensed matter systems with chiral quasi-particles. I review the current status of this problem with an emphasis both on the interplay between chirality and a background magnetic field and on the observable manifestations of topology in heavy-ion collisions, Dirac semimetals, neutron stars, and the early Universe.