Related papers: Nematic order by elastic interactions and cellular…

We introduce a simple mean-field lattice model to describe the behavior of nematic elastomers. This model combines the Maier-Saupe-Zwanzig approach to liquid crystals and an extension to lattice systems of the Warner-Terentjev theory of…

We consider a noise driven network of integrate-and-fire neurons. The network evolves as result of the activities of the neurons following spike-timing-dependent plasticity rules. We apply a self-consistent mean-field theory to the system…

We present a Landau type theory for the non-linear elasticity of biopolymer gels with a part of the order parameter describing induced nematic order of fibers in the gel. We attribute the non-linear elastic behavior of these materials to…

A Self Consistent Field Theory description of equilibrium, but non uniform, configurations adopted by semi flexible liquid crystal molecules is presented. Two cases are considered, isotropic-nematic phase boundaries, and topological defects…

Spin-driven nematic order that has been proposed for iron-based superconductors is generated by pronounced fluctuations of a striped density wave state. On the other hand it is a well known fact that nematic order parameter couples…

I put forward a continuum theory for active nematic gels, defined as fluids or suspensions of orientable rodlike objects endowed with active dynamics, that is based on symmetry arguments and compatibility with thermodynamics. The starting…

We use linear stability analysis to show that an isotropic phase of elongated particles with dipolar flow fields can develop nematic order as a result of their activity. We argue that ordering is favoured if the particles are flow-aligning…

We consider the impact of the elastomer network on the structure and fluctuations in the isotropic-genesis nematic elastomer, via a phenomenological model that underscores the role of network compliance. The model contains a…

Mechanical signaling plays a key role in biological processes like embryo development and cancer growth. One prominent way to probe mechanical properties of tissues is to study their response to externally applied forces. Using a…

Active forces occurring within cells can drive crucial biological processes that involve spontaneous organization and shape change, such as cell division. Motivated by recent in vitro experiments of nematic droplets of cytoskeletal…

Many active systems display nematic order, while interacting with their environment. In this work, we show theoretically how environment-stored memory acts an effective external field that aligns active nematics. The coupling to the…

Coupling between flow and orientation is a central issue in understanding the collective dynamics of active biofilaments and cells. Active stresses generated by motor activity destroy (quasi-)long-range orientational order and induce…

Nematic ordering describes the phenomenon where anisotropic molecules tend to locally align, like matches in a matchbox. This ordering can arise in solids (as nematic elastomers), liquids (as liquid crystals), and in gases. In the 1940s,…

In the framework of a field theoretical approach we study Maier-Saupe nematogenic fluid in contact with a hard wall. The pair interaction potential of the considered model consists of an isotropic and an anisotropic Yukawa terms. In the…

At low temperatures, some lattice spin models with simple ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic interactions (for example nearest-neighbour interaction being isotropic in spin space on a bipartite three-dimensional lattice) produce…

We examine the dynamics of a compressible active nematic liquid crystal on a frictional substrate. When frictional damping dominates over viscous dissipation, we eliminate flow in favor of active stresses to obtain a minimal dynamical model…

We compute effective energies of thin bilayer structures composed by soft nematic elastic-liquid crystals in various geometrical regimes and functional configurations. Our focus is on order-strain interaction in elastic foundations composed…

We study a mixture of extensile and contractile cells using a vertex model extended to include active nematic stresses. The two cell populations phase separate over time. While phase separation strengthens monotonically with an increasing…

Cells self-organize into functional, ordered structures during tissue morphogenesis, a process that is evocative of colloidal self-assembly into engineered soft materials. Understanding how inter-cellular mechanical interactions may drive…

Cells undergo dramatic morphological changes during embryogenesis, yet how these changes affect the formation of ordered tissues remains elusive. Here, we show that a phase transition leading to the formation of a nematic liquid crystal…