Details of the Researcher

PHOTO

Mahmoudi Ep Sato Sonia
Section
Advanced Institute for Materials Research
Job title
Assistant Professor
Degree
  • 博士(理学)(東北大学)

  • M.S.(IMT Mines Ales)

Research History 5

  • 2023/11 - Present
    Tohoku University WPI-AIMR (SUURI-COOL) Assistant Professor

  • 2022/12 - 2023/10
    Tohoku University WPI-AIMR Visiting Researcher (Kotani Lab)

  • 2022/12 - 2023/10
    Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania Center of Functional Fabrics Research Assistant Professor

  • 2022/10 - 2022/11
    Tohoku University WPI-AIMR (Kotani Lab) Postdoc (JSPS PD)

  • 2019/10 - 2022/09
    Tohoku University WPI-AIMr (Kotani Lab) Research Assistant

Education 1

  • Tohoku University Graduate School of Science Department of Mathematics

    2019/10 - 2022/09

Research Interests 5

  • Metamaterials

  • Polymers

  • Textiles

  • Periodic Tangles

  • Knot Theory

Awards 1

  1. Tohoku University 2022 President's Award

    2023/03 Tohoku University

Papers 14

  1. Construction of weaving and polycatenane motifs from periodic tilings of the plane Peer-reviewed

    Mizuki Fukuda, Motoko Kotani, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications 2025/09/15

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.1142/S0218216525500701  

    More details Close

    Doubly periodic weaves and polycatenanes embedded in the thickened Euclidean plane are three-dimensional complex entangled structures whose topological properties can be encoded in any generating cell of its infinite planar representation. Such a periodic cell, called motif, is a specific type of link diagram embedded on a torus consisting of essential simple closed curves for weaves, or null-homotopic for polycatenanes. In this paper, we introduce a methodology to construct such motifs using the concept of polygonal link transformations. This approach generalizes to the Euclidean plane existing methods to construct polyhedral links in the three-dimensional space. Then, we will state our main result which allows one to predict the type of motif that can be built from a given planar periodic tiling and a chosen polygonal link method.

  2. From annular to toroidal knotoids and their bracket polynomials

    Ioannis Diamantis, Sofia Lambropoulou, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Preprint 2025/09/05

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2509.05014  

    More details Close

    In this paper we study the theory of multi-knotoids of the annulus and of the torus. We present first their equivalence relation, building it up from the theory of planar knotoids to the theory of toroidal knotoids through the theory of annular knotoids. We introduce the concept of lifting annular and toroidal knotoids and examine inclusion relations arising naturally from the topology of the supporting manifolds. We also introduce the concept of mixed knotoids as special cases of planar knotoids, containing a fixed unknot for representing the thickened annulus or a fixed Hopf link for representing the thickened torus. We then extend the Turaev loop bracket for planar knotoids to bracket polynomials for annular and for toroidal knotoids, whose universal analogues recover the Kauffman bracket knotoid skein module of the thickened annulus and the thickened torus.

  3. Diagrammatic representations of 3-periodic entanglements Peer-reviewed

    Toky Andriamanalina, Myfanwy E. Evans, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Topology and its Applications 368 109346-109346 2025/07

    Publisher: Elsevier BV

    DOI: 10.1016/j.topol.2025.109346  

    ISSN: 0166-8641

    More details Close

    Diagrams enable the use of various algebraic and geometric tools in analysing and classifying knots. In this paper we introduce a new diagrammatic representation of triply periodic entangled structures, which are embeddings of simple curves in $\mathbb{R}^3$ that are invariant under translations along three non-coplanar axes. These diagrams require an extended set of new moves in addition to the Reidemeister moves, which we show to preserve ambient isotopies of triply periodic entangled structures. We use the diagrams to define the crossing number and the unknotting number of the triply periodic entanglements, demonstrating the practicality of the diagrammatic representation.

  4. Topological Defect Propagation to Classify Knitted Fabrics

    Daisuke S. Shimamoto, Keiko Shimamoto, Sonia Mahmoudi, Samuel Poincloux

    Preprint 2025/06/27

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2506.22369  

    More details Close

    Knits and crochets are mechanical metamaterials with a long history and can typically be produced from a single yarn. Despite the simplicity of the manufacturing process, they exhibit a wide range of structural configurations with diverse mechanical properties and application potential. Although there has been recent growing interest in textile-based metamaterials, a rigorous topological characterization of what makes a structure knittable has been lacking. In this paper, we introduce a general criterion based on topological constraints that distinguishes knits and crochets from other textile structures. We demonstrate how the introduction of topological defects and their propagation makes this classification practical. Our approach highlights a fundamental link between manufacturing processes and structural fragility. Within this framework, we show how the rationalization of defect propagation unlocks the design of fabrics with controllable resistance to damage.

  5. On 3-periodic tangled networks and their untangling number

    Toky Andriamanalina, Sonia Mahmoudi, Myfanwy E. Evans

    Preprint 2025/06/18

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2506.15252  

    More details Close

    Periodic networks serve as models for the structural organisation of biological and chemical crystalline systems. A single or multiple networks can have different configurations in space, where entanglement may arise due to the way the edges weave around each other. This entanglement influences the functional, physical, and chemical properties of the materials modelled by the networks, which highlights the need to quantify its complexity. In this paper, we describe a diagrammatic representation of 3-periodic tangled networks that allows the definition of the untangling number, which can be used as a measure of entanglement complexity. The untangling number, first defined elsewhere for 3-periodic entanglements of filaments and reminiscent of the unknotting number in knot theory, quantifies the minimum distance between a given 3-periodic structure and its least tangled version, called ground state. This distance is measured through a sequence of operations called untangling operations performed on a diagram of a given structure.

  6. On the isotopies of tangles in periodic 3-manifolds using finite covers

    Yuka Kotorii, Sonia Mahmoudi, Elisabetta Matsumoto, Ken'ichi Yoshida

    Preprint 2025/05/27

    More details Close

    A periodic tangle is a one-dimensional submanifold in $\mathbb{R}^3$ that has translational symmetry in one, two or three transverse directions. A periodic tangle can be seen as the universal cover of a link in the solid torus, the thickened torus, or the three-torus, respectively. Our goal is to study equivalence relations of such periodic tangles. Since all finite covers of a link lift to the same periodic tangle, it is necessary to prove that isotopies between different finite covers are preserved. In this paper, we show that if two links have isotopic lifts in a common finite cover, then they are isotopic. To do so, we employ techniques from 3-manifold topology to study the complements of such links.

  7. The untangling number of 3-periodic tangles

    Toky Andriamanalina, Sonia Mahmoudi, Myfanwy E. Evans

    Preprint 2025/04/02

    More details Close

    The entanglement of curves within a 3-periodic box provides a model for complicated space-filling entangled structures occurring in biological materials and structural chemistry. Quantifying the complexity of the entanglement within these models enhances the characterisation of these structures. In this paper, we introduce a new measure of entanglement complexity through the untangling number, reminiscent of the unknotting number in knot theory. The untangling number quantifies the minimum distance between a given 3-periodic structure and its least tangled version, called ground state, through a sequence of operations in a diagrammatic representation of the structure. For entanglements that consist of only infinite open curves, we show that the generic ground states of these structures are crystallographic rod packings, well-known in structural chemistry.

  8. From planar to annular to toroidal bracket polynomials for pseudo knots and links Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Diamantis, Sofia Lambropoulou, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Accepted, AMS Contemporary Mathematics 2025/01/01

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2501.00736  

    More details Close

    Pseudo links are equivalence classes under Reidemeister-type moves of link diagrams containing crossings with undefined over and under information. In this paper, we extend the Kauffman bracket and Jones-type polynomials from planar pseudo links to annular and toroidal pseudo links and their respective lifts from the three-space to the solid torus and the thickened torus. Moreover, since annular and toroidal pseudo links can be represented as mixed links in the three-sphere, we also introduce the respective Kauffman bracket and Jones-type polynomials for their planar mixed link diagrams. Our work provides new tools for the study of annular and toroidal pseudo links.

  9. The Theory of Doubly Periodic Pseudo Tangles Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Diamantis, Sofia Lambropoulou, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Accepted, AMS Contemporary Mathematics 2024/12/22

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2412.16808  

    More details Close

    Doubly periodic tangles (DP tangles) are configurations of curves embedded in the thickened plane, invariant under translations in two transversal directions. In this paper we extend the classical theory of DP tangles by introducing the theory of {\it doubly periodic pseudo tangles} (pseudo DP tangles), which incorporate undetermined crossings called {\it precrossings}, inspired by the theory of pseudo knots. Pseudo DP tangles are defined as liftings of spatial pseudo links in the thickened torus, called {\it pseudo motifs}, and are analyzed through diagrammatic methods that account for both local and global isotopies. We emphasize on {\it pseudo cover equivalence}, a concept defining equivalence between finite covers of pseudo motif diagrams. We investigate the notion of equivalence for these structures, leading to an analogue of the Reidemeister theorem for pseudo DP tangles. Furthermore, we address the complexities introduced by pseudo cover equivalence in defining minimal pseudo motif diagrams. This work contributes to the broader understanding of periodic entangled structures and can find applications in diverse fields such as textiles, materials science and crystallography due to their periodic nature.

  10. On the classification of periodic weaves and universal cover of links in thickened surfaces Peer-reviewed

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Communications of the Korean Mathematical Society 39 (4) 997-1025 2024/10/31

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.4134/CKMS.C230171  

    More details Close

    A periodic weave is the lift of a particular link embedded in a thickened surface to the universal cover. Its components are infinite unknotted simple open curves that can be partitioned in at least two distinct sets of threads. The classification of periodic weaves can be reduced to the one of their generating cells, namely their weaving motifs. However, this classification cannot be achieved through the classical theory of links in thickened surfaces since periodicity in the universal cover is not encoded. In this paper, we first introduce the notion of hyperbolic periodic weaves, which generalizes our doubly periodic weaves embedded in the Euclidean thickened plane. Then, Tait First and Second Conjectures are extended to minimal reduced alternating weaving motifs and proved using a generalized Kauffman bracket polynomial defined for periodic weaving diagrams of the Euclidean plane and generalized to the hyperbolic plane. The first conjecture states that any minimal alternating reduced weaving motif has the minimum possible number of crossings, while the second one formulates that two such oriented weaving motifs have the same writhe.

  11. From Annular to Toroidal Pseudo Knots Peer-reviewed

    Ioannis Diamantis, Sofia Lambropoulou, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Symmetry 2024/10/13

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.3390/sym16101360  

    More details Close

    In this paper, we extend the theory of planar pseudo knots to the theories of annular and toroidal pseudo knots. Pseudo knots are defined as equivalence classes under Reidemeister-like moves of knot diagrams characterized by crossings with undefined over/under information. In the theories of annular and toroidal pseudo knots we introduce their respective lifts to the solid and the thickened torus. Then, we interlink these theories by representing annular and toroidal pseudo knots as planar ${\rm O}$-mixed and ${\rm H}$-mixed pseudo links. We also explore the inclusion relations between planar, annular and toroidal pseudo knots, as well as of ${\rm O}$-mixed and ${\rm H}$-mixed pseudo links. Finally, we extend the planar weighted resolution set to annular and toroidal pseudo knots, defining new invariants for classifying pseudo knots and links in the solid and in the thickened torus.

  12. Directional Invariants of Doubly Periodic Tangles

    Ioannis Diamantis, Sofia Lambropoulou, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Symmetry 2024/07/30

    DOI: 10.3390/sym16080968  

  13. Equivalence of Doubly Periodic Tangles

    Ioannis Diamantis, Sofia Lambropoulou, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Preprint 2023/10

    Publisher: arXiv

    DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2310.00822  

    More details Close

    Doubly periodic tangles, or \textit{DP tangles}, are embeddings of curves in the thickened plane that are periodically repeated in two directions. They are completely defined by their generating cells, the {\it flat motifs}, which can be chosen in infinitely many ways. DP tangles are used in modelling materials and physical systems of entangled filaments. In this paper we establish the mathematical framework of the topological theory of DP tangles. We first introduce a formal definition of DP tangles as topological objects and proceed with an exhaustive analysis in order to characterize the notion of {\it equivalence} between DP tangles and between their flat motifs. We further generalize our results to other diagrammatic categories, such as framed, virtual, singular, pseudo and bonded DP tangles, which could be used in novel applications.

  14. Classification of doubly periodic untwisted (p,q)-weaves by their crossing number and matrices

    Mizuki Fukuda, Motoko Kotani, Sonia Mahmoudi

    Journal of Knot Theory and Its Ramifications 2023/04/05

    DOI: 10.1142/S0218216523500323  

    More details Close

    A weave is the lift to the Euclidean thickened plane of a set of infinitely many planar crossed geodesics, that can be characterized by a number of sets of threads describing the organization of the non-intersecting curves, together with a set of crossing sequences representing the entanglements. In this paper, the classification of a specific class of doubly periodic weaves, called untwisted (p,q)-weaves, is done by their crossing number, which is the minimum number of crossings that can possibly be found in a unit cell of its infinite weaving diagrams. Such a diagram can be considered as a particular type of quadrivalent periodic planar graph with an over or under information at each vertex, whose unit cell corresponds to a link diagram in a thickened torus. Moreover, considering that a weave is not uniquely defined by its sets of threads and its crossing sequences, we also specify the notion of equivalence classes by introducing a new parameter, called crossing matrix.

Show all ︎Show first 5

Presentations 22

  1. Constructing Periodic Tangles from Tilings Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    2025 Spring Symposium, WPI-SKCM2, Hiroshima University 2025/03

  2. On Doubly Periodic (DP) Tangles & Pseudo DP Tangles Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    2024 Winter School, WPI-SKCM2, Hiroshima University 2024/12

  3. A New Topological Model of Knitting

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Knitting Day – iTHEMS Math Workshop 2024/11

  4. Topological Modeling of Textiles Towards a Sustainable Industry

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Workshop: iTHEMS Science Outreach Workshop 2024, Tohoku University 2024/11

  5. On the bracket polynomial of periodic tangles

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Tohoku Knot Seminar 2024/10

  6. Embedding of weaving motifs in the thickened torus and their periodic covers in the 3-space Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    The 4th International Conference on Surfaces, Analysis, and Numerics in Differential Geometry and the 1st IMAG-OCAMI Joint Conference on Differential Geometry 2024/02

  7. Exploring Periodic Entangled Structures in Materials Science Through Knot Theory Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Kyoto Winter School 2024 “Towards Holistic Understanding of Life”, Kyoto University 2024/02

  8. Knot Theory in Doubly Periodic Tangles and Applications Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    iTHEMS Math Seminar 2024/01

  9. A Topological Model of Textile Structures

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    ICIAM 2023 Tokyo 2023/08

  10. Topological Model of Weaves and Links in the Thickened Torus Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Drexel University Math Seminar 2023/06

  11. Equivalence Classes of Doubly Periodic (p,q)-Weaves Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    University of Pennsylvania Math Seminar 2023/04

  12. Doubly Periodic Weaves & Polycatenanes Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Topology & Computer 2022 2022/10

  13. Doubly Periodic Weaves & Polycatenanes

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    2022 Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Mathematics 2022/09

  14. A Topological Model of Weavings Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    The Interdisciplinary World of Tangling, University of Potsdam 2022/09

  15. Weaving invariants

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Hokuriku Knot Seminar 2022 2022/09

  16. Doubly Periodic Entangled Motifs from Planar Tilings

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Fico González-Acuña Low Dimensional Topology Seminar 2022/08

  17. Periodic Weaving Diagrams

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    CIRM Workshop: Structures on Surfaces 2022/05

  18. An Introduction to the Topology of Weaving Invited

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    Lounge Seminar, School of Applied Mathematics NTUA Athens 2022/05

  19. Classification of Combinatorial Weaving Diagrams

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    18th Mathematics Conference for Young Researchers, March 2022/03

  20. A Topological Model of Weaves

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    CREST Seminar 2022/03

  21. Construction of Weaving Diagrams from Tilings

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    18th Joint Presentation of the Japan Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 2022/03

  22. Equivalence classes of doubly periodic untwisted (p,q)-weaves,

    Sonia Mahmoudi

    5th Mathematical Freshman Seminar 2022/02

Show all Show first 5

Research Projects 2

  1. Quantum Invariants to Classify Doubly Periodic Tangles

    MAHMOUDI SONIA

    Offer Organization: 日本学術振興会

    System: 科学研究費助成事業

    Category: 若手研究

    Institution: 東北大学

    2025/04/01 - 2030/03/31

  2. Construction and Classification of Weaves

    Offer Organization: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    System: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

    Category: Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows

    Institution: Tohoku University

    2022/04/22 - 2024/03/31