Related papers: Static and dynamic properties of a reversible gel
We consider the derivation and numerical solution of the flow of passive and active polar liquid crystals, whose molecular orientation is subjected to a tangential anchoring on an evolving curved surface. The underlying passive model is a…
The patterns arising from the differential swelling of gels are investigated experimentally and theoretically as a model for the differential growth of living tissues. Two geometries are considered: a thin strip of soft gel clamped to a…
If quenched fast enough, a liquid is able to avoid crystallization and will remain in a metastable supercooled state down to the glass transition, with an important increase in viscosity upon further cooling. There are important differences…
We examine the phenomenon of dynamical heterogeneity in computer simulations of an equilibrium, glass-forming liquid. We describe several approaches to quantify the spatial correlation of single-particle motion, and show that spatial…
We present a theory of active, permeating, polar gels, based on a two-fluid model. An active relative force between the gel components creates a steady-state current. We analyze its stability, while considering two polar coupling terms to…
We present a pedagogical review of the swelling thermodynamics and phase transitions of polymer gels. In particular, we discuss how features of the volume phase transition of the gel's osmotic equilibrium is analogous to other transitions…
Supercooled liquids exhibit spatial heterogeneity in the dynamics of their fluctuating atomic arrangements. The length and time scales of the heterogeneous dynamics are central to the glass transition and influence nucleation and growth of…
Swelling is a volumetric-growth process in which a porous material expands by spontaneous imbibition of additional pore fluid. Swelling is distinct from other growth processes in that it is inherently poromechanical: Local expansion of the…
We study pattern formation in gels undergoing simultaneous phase separation and orientational ordering. A 2D numerical simulation is performed using a minimal model of nonlinear elasticity with density-anisotropy coupling. For strong…
We have considered the dynamical evolution of cellular patterns controlled by a stochastic Glauber process determined by the deviations of local cell topology from that of a crystalline structure. Above a critical temperature evolution is…
In this paper, we discuss the equilibrium phases and collapse transitions of a lyotropic nematic gel immersed in an isotropic solvent. A nematic gel consists of a cross-linked polymer network with rod-like molecules embedded in it. Upon…
We study the temperature dependence of static and dynamic responses of Coulomb interacting particles in two-dimensional traps across the thermal crossover from an amorphous solid- to liquid-like behaviors. While static correlations, that…
Under many circumstances many soft and hard materials are present in a puzzling wealth of non-equilibrium amorphous states, whose properties are not stationary and depend on preparation. They are often summarized in unconventional "phase…
Over times shorter than that required for relaxation of enthalpy, a liquid can exhibit striking heterogeneities. The picture of these heterogeneities is complex with transient patches of rigidity, irregular yet persistent, intersected by…
We study theoretically the phase diagram of compressible active polar gels such as the actin network of eukaryotic cells. Using generalized hydrodynamics equations, we perform a linear stability analysis of the uniform states in the case of…
We show that there are several striking parallels between the dynamics of gelatin gels and spin glasses. In general, glassy systems retain a memory of their past history. A key characteristic differentiating spin glasses from most other…
We describe a phase transition that gives rise to structurally non-trivial states in a two-dimensional ordered network of particles connected by harmonic bonds. Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the network supports, apart from the…
A transition from solid-like to liquid-like behavior occurs when colloidal gels are subjected to a prolonged exposure to a steady shear. This phenomenon, which is characterized by a yielding point, is found to be strongly dependent on the…
Glass-forming liquids display strong fluctuations -- dynamical heterogeneities -- near their glass transition. By numerically simulating a binary Weeks-Chandler-Andersen liquid and varying both temperature and timescale, we investigate the…
A spontaneous buckling transition in thin layers of monodomain nematic liquid crystalline gel was observed by polarized light microscopy. The coupling between the orientational ordering of liquid crystalline solvent and the translational…