Related papers: Continuous Crystallization in Hexagonally-Ordered …
The fluctuations of two-dimensional extended objects membranes is a rich and exciting field with many solid results and a wide range of open issues. We review the distinct universality classes of membranes, determined by the local order,…
We present detailed systematic studies of structural transformations in thin liquid crystal films with the smectic-C to hexatic phase transition. For the first time all possible structures reported in the literature are observed for one…
We consider elastic manifolds evolving on disordered energy potentials under the action of an external uniform driving. This scenario includes the cases of {\em depinning} and {\em yielding}, which provide paradigmatic examples of out of…
Using a high resolution Monte Carlo simulation technique based on multi-histogram method and cluster-algorithm, we have investigated critical properties of a coupled XY model, consists of a six-fold symmetric hexatic and a three-fold…
We present the first direct experimental evidence showing that yielding of a prototypical soft solid - a colloidal glass - is a non-equilibrium 'absorbing' phase transition. By simultaneously quantifying single-particle dynamics and bulk…
Based on static and dynamical density functional theory, a phase-field-crystal model is derived which involves both the translational density and the orientational degree of ordering as well as a local director field. The model exhibits…
Liquid crystals in two dimensions do not support long-ranged nematic order, but a quasi-nematic phase where the orientational correlations decay algebraically is possible. The transition from the isotropic to the quasi-nematic phase can be…
We show that order-parameter fluctuations in a good type-I superconductor or a liquid crystal always increase the size of the first-order transition. This behavior is eventually changed when the system crosses over to inverted-XY critical…
We investigate the dynamics of cellular solidification patterns using three-dimensional phase-field simulations. The cells can organize into stable hexagonal patterns or exhibit unsteady evolutions. We identify the relevant secondary…
Disordered solids, straddling the solid-fluid boundary, lack a comprehensive continuum mechanical description. They exhibit a complex microstructure wherein multiple meta-stable states exist. Deforming disordered solids induces particles…
Ferroelectric ordering in liquids is a fundamental question of physics. Here, we show that ferroelectric ordering of the molecules causes formation of recently reported splay nematic liquid-crystalline phase. As shown by dielectric…
The three-dimensional strongly screened vortex-glass model is studied numerically using methods from combinatorial optimization. We focus on the effect of disorder strength on the ground state and found the existence of a disorder-driven…
When strained beyond the linear regime, soft colloidal glasses yield to steady-state plastic flow in a way that is similar to the deformation of conventional amorphous solids. Due to the much larger size of the colloidal particles with…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
We present an x-ray study of freely suspended hexatic films of the liquid crystal 3(10)OBC. Our results reveal spatial inhomogeneities of the bond-orientational (BO) order in the vicinity of the hexatic-smectic phase transition and the…
In event-chain Monte Carlo simulations we model colloidal particles in two dimensions that interact according to an isotropic short-ranged pair potential which supports the two typical length scales present in decagonal quasicrystals. We…
Understanding and controlling the director field configuration, shape, and orientation in nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals is of fundamental importance in several branches of science. Liquid crystalline droplets, also known as…
Freestanding tubular crystals offer a general description of crystalline order on deformable surfaces with cylindrical topology, such as single-walled carbon nanotubes, microtubules, and recently reported colloidal assemblies. These systems…
Liquid crystals consisting of biaxial particles can exhibit a much richer phase behavior than their uniaxial counterparts. Usually, one has to rely on simulation results to understand the phase diagram of these systems, since very few…
The Kosterlitz-Thouless and the Hexatic phase transitions are celebrated examples of dipole (vortex, dislocation) induced transitions in condensed matter physics. For very clear reasons, these important ``topological" transitions are…