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This article reviews recent inverse statistical-mechanical methodologies that we have devised to optimize interaction potentials in soft matter systems that correspond to stable "target" structures. We are interested in finding the…
Interacting many-particle systems can self-organize into a rich variety of crystalline structures. While symmetry provides a powerful framework for predicting whether transitions between crystal states are continuous or discontinuous,…
DNA-coated colloids are a popular model system for self-assembly through tunable interactions. The DNA-encoded linkages between particles theoretically allow for very high specificity, but generally no directionality or long-range…
Catalytically active colloids maintain non-equilibrium conditions in which they produce and deplete chemicals and hence effectively act as sources and sinks of molecules. While individual colloids that are symmetrically coated do not…
We present a dynamical model of crystal growth, in which it is possible to reliably achieve asymmetric products, beginning from symmetric initial conditions and growing within an isotropic environment. The asymmetric growth is the result of…
Achieving the formation of target open crystalline lattices from colloidal particles is of paramount importance for their potential application in photonics. Examples of such desired structures are the diamond, tetrastack, and pyrochlore…
Stress relaxation in crystalline solids is mediated by the formation and diffusion of defects. While it is well established how externally-generated stresses relax, through the proliferation and motion of dislocations in the lattice, it…
While many piezoelectric materials are known, there is still great potential to improve on the figures of merit of existing materials through compositional doping, forming solid solutions. Specifically, it has been shown that doping and…
Interaction between dipolar forces, such as permanent magnets, generally leads to the formation of one-dimensional chains and rings. We investigated whether it was possible to let dipoles self-assemble into three-dimensional structures by…
We demonstrate the accuracy of the hypernetted chain closure and of the mean-field approximation for the calculation of the fluid-state properties of systems interacting by means of bounded and positive-definite pair potentials with…
We propose a general framework for solving inverse self-assembly problems, i.e. designing interactions between elementary units such that they assemble spontaneously into a predetermined structure. Our approach uses patchy particles as…
The self-assembly of binary nanoparticle superlattices from colloidal mixtures is a promising method for the fabrication of complex colloidal co-crystal structures. However, binary mixtures often form amorphous or metastable phases instead…
Anisotropic dipole-dipole interaction often plays a key role in biological, soft, and complex matter. For it to induce non-trivial order in the system, there must be additional repulsive interactions or external potentials involved that…
Detecting a non-zero electric dipole moment (EDM) in a particle would unambiguously signify physics beyond the Standard Model. A potential pathway towards this is the detection of a nuclear Schiff moment, the magnitude of which is enhanced…
Self organizing anisotropic nematic liquid crystals (LCs) induce self-assembly on quantum dots (QDs) to form one-dimensional chains along the nematic director. Spatial ordering of QDs, achieved in the nematic LC matrix, can be controlled in…
We analyze an unusual class of bosonic dynamical instabilities that arise from dissipative (or non-Hermitian) pairing interactions. We show that, surprisingly, a completely stable dissipative pairing interaction can be combined with simple…
We report density-functional based molecular dynamics simulations, that show that, with increasing pressure, liquid carbon undergoes a gradual transformation from a liquid with local three-fold coordination to a 'diamond-like' liquid. We…
A theoretical approach is described for an exact numerical treatment of a pair of ultracold atoms interacting via a central potential that are trapped in a finite three-dimensional optical lattice. The coupling of center-of-mass and…
Using dynamical-mean-field theory for clusters, we study the two-dimensional Hubbard model in which electrons are coupled with the orthorhombic lattice distortions through the modulation in the hopping matrix. Instability towards…
One of the fundamental goals of nanotechnology is to exploit selective and directional interactions between molecules to design particles that self-assemble into desired structures, from capsids, to nano-clusters, to fully formed crystals…