Related papers: Continuous Crystallization in Hexagonally-Ordered …
In many interesting physical settings, such as the vulcanization of rubber, the introduction of permanent random constraints between the constituents of a homogeneous fluid can cause a phase transition to a random solid state. In this…
We present the phase diagram and critical properties of a coupled $XY$-Ising model on a triangular lattice using the mean-field approximation, the Migdal-Kadanoff scheme of renormalization group and Monte-Carlo simulations. The topology of…
Liquid crystal elastomers are rubber-like solids with liquid crystalline mesogens (stiff, rod-like molecules) incorporated either into the main chain or as a side chain of the polymer. These solids display a range of unusual…
We find an order-disorder transition from crystals to disordered crystals for static packings of frictionless spheres. While the geometric indicators are mostly blind to the transition, disordered crystals already exhibit properties apart…
We study the phase transition between the Coulomb liquid and the columnar crystal in the 3D classical dimer model, which was found to be continuous in the O(3) universality class. In addition to nearest neighbor interactions which favor…
We show that two-dimensional systems of deformable particles undergo a continuous liquid-hexatic transition upon compression or cooling, but no hexatic-solid transition-even at zero temperature and high density. Numerical simulations reveal…
Liquid crystal elastomers are special cross-linked polymer materials combining the large elastic deformability of elastomers with the orientational orders of liquid crystals. This model exhibits markedly different phenomena than the liquid…
Simple symmetry considerations would suggest that the transition from the smectic-A phase to the long-range bond orientationally ordered hexatic smectic-B phase should belong to the XY universality class. However, a number of experimental…
We experimentally study the critical properties of the non-equilibrium solid-liquid-like transition that takes place in vibrated granular matter. The critical dynamics is characterized by the coupling of the density field with the…
The sliding columnar phase is a new liquid-crystalline phase of matter composed of two-dimensional smectic lattices stacked one on top of the other. This phase is characterized by strong orientational but weak positional correlations…
We study elasticity of spontaneously orientationally-ordered amorphous solids, characterized by a vanishing transverse shear modulus, as realized for example by nematic elastomers and gels. We show that local heterogeneities and elastic…
Mixed-order phase transitions display a discontinuity in the order parameter like first-order transitions yet feature critical behavior like second-order transitions. Such transitions have been predicted for a broad range of equilibrium and…
Starting from an ideal crystalline state, we numerically study a nonequilibrium dynamical order- disorder transition promoted by the application of a periodic shearing protocol at low temperatures in model systems in two and three…
Liquid crystal elastomers realize a fascinating new form of soft matter that is a composite of a conventional crosslinked polymer gel (rubber) and a liquid crystal. These {\em solid} liquid crystal amalgams, quite similarly to their…
Renormalization group theory does not restrict the from of continuous variation of critical exponents which occurs in presence of a marginal operator. However, the continuous variation of critical exponents, observed in different contexts,…
The vulcanization transition - the crosslink-density-controlled equilibrium phase transition from the liquid to the amorphous solid state - is explored analytically from a renormalization group perspective. The analysis centers on a minimal…
Sheared multi-component bulk metallic glasses are characterized by both chemical and structural disorder that define their properties. We investigate the behavior of the local, microstructural elastic modulus across the plastic yielding…
Continuum models of plasticity fail to capture the richness of microstructural evolution because the continuum is a homogeneous construction. The present study shows that an alternative way is available at the mesoscale in the form of truly…
Herein, fundamentals of topology and symmetry breaking are used to understand crystallization and geometrical frustration in topologically close-packed structures. This frames solidification from a new perspective that is unique from…
Disordered solids exhibit unusual properties of their vibrational states and thermal conductivities. Recent progresses have well established the concept of "elastic heterogeneity", i.e., disordered materials show spatially inhomogeneous…