Related papers: Surface and smectic layering transitions in binary…
We study the hydrodynamics of a freely-standing smectic-A film in the isothermal, incompressible limit theoretically by analyzing the linearized hydrodynamic equations of motion with proper boundary conditions. The dynamic properties for…
We present a quantitative comparison between extensive Monte Carlo simulations and self-consistent field calculations on the phase diagram and wetting behavior of a symmetric, binary (AB) polymer blend confined into a film. The flat walls…
Weakly attractive interactions between the tips of rod-like colloidal particles affect their liquid-crystal phase behaviour due to a subtle interplay between enthalpy and entropy. Here, we employ molecular dynamics simulations on…
The phase behavior of colloidal particles embedded in a binary fluid is influenced by wetting layers surrounding each particle. The free energy of the fluid film depends on its morphology, i.e., on size, shape and connectivity. Under rather…
The surface freezing and surface melting transitions exhibited by a model two-dimensional soft matter system is studied. The behaviour when confined within a wedge is also considered. The system consists of particles interacting via a soft…
We study the equilibrium of a liquid film on an attractive spherical substrate for an intermolecular interaction model exhibiting both fluid-fluid and fluid-wall long-range forces. We first reexamine the wetting properties of the model in…
We consider the shear flow of well-aligned one-component smectic phases, such as thermotropic smectics and lamellar diblock copolymers, below the critical region. We show that, as a result of thermal fluctuations of the layers, parallel…
Smectic liquid crystals are materials formed by stacking deformable, fluid layers. Though smectics prefer to have flat, uniformly-spaced layers, boundary conditions can impose curvature on the layers. Since the layer spacing and curvature…
Using Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis, the critical behavior of attractive rigid rods of length k (k-mers) on square lattices at intermediate density has been studied. A nematic phase, characterized by a big domain…
Symmetric mixtures characterized by high negative geometric and energetic non-additivity do not exhibit phase separation in the bulk. However, the phase separation occurs when such mixtures are confined in slit pores with selective walls.…
Heterogeneous nucleation of a new bulk phase on a flat substrate can be associated with the surface phase transition called wetting transition. When this bulk heterogeneous nucleation occurs on a completely-wettable flat substrate with a…
We use quantum Monte Carlo simulations to determine the finite temperature phase diagram and to investigate the thermal and quantum melting of stripe phases in a two-dimensional hard-core boson model. At half filling and low temperatures…
We examine the behavior of spherical silica particles trapped at an air-nematic liquid crystal interface. When a strong normal anchoring is imposed, the beads spontaneously form various structures depending on their area density and the…
A flux liquid can condense into a smectic crystal in a pure layered superconductor with the magnetic field oriented nearly parallel to the layers. Similar order can arise in low temperature $^4$He films with a highly anisotropic periodic…
Recently, Tavarone et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 143, 114505 (2015)) discussed phase behavior of zig-zag and bow-shaped particles composed of three needles. The authors presented very interesting results of extensive Monte Carlo simulations with…
The second layer of $^4$He films adsorbed on a graphite substrate is an excellent experimental platform to study the interplay between superfluid and structural orders. Here, we report a rigid two-frequency torsional oscillator study on the…
A system of hard rigid rods of length $k$ on hypercubic lattices is known to undergo two phases transitions when chemical potential is increased: from a low density isotropic phase to an intermediate density nematic phase, and on further…
Ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) are anisotropic mesogenic molecules which carry charges and therefore combine properties of liquid crystals, e.g., the formation of mesophases, and of ionic liquids, such as low melting temperatures and tiny…
As a first step towards a microscopic understanding of the effective interaction between colloidal particles suspended in a solvent we study the wetting behavior of one-component fluids at spheres and fibers. We describe these phenomena…
Recent studies of melting in hard disks have confirmed the existence of a hexatic phase occurring in a narrow window of density which is separated from the isotropic liquid phase by a first-order transition, and from the solid phase by a…