Related papers: Effective models for nematic liquid crystals compo…
To describe many-particle systems suspended in incompressible low-Reynolds-number fluids, effective hydrodynamic interactions can be introduced. Here, we consider particles embedded in elastic media. The effective elastic interactions…
Understanding nanoscale mechanisms responsible for the recently discovered ferroelectric nematics can be helped by direct visualization of self-assembly of strongly polar molecules. Here we report on scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)…
A nematic liquid crystal confined to the surface of a sphere exhibits topological defects of total charge $+2$ due to the topological constraint. In equilibrium, the nematic field forms four $+1/2$ defects, located at the corners of a…
Self-assembly is one of the crucial mechanisms allowing to design multifunctional materials. Soft hybrid materials contain components of different nature and exhibit competitive interactions which drive self-organisation into structures of…
Colloids dispersed in nematic liquid crystals form topological composites in which colloid-associated defects mediate interactions while adhering to fundamental topological constraints. Better realising the promise of such materials…
Fluid molecular ferroelectrics are a new class of organic materials where ferroelectricity is found in conjunction with 3D fluidity whilst still retaining spontaneous polarization values comparable to their traditional solid state…
This paper outlines an energy-minimization finite-element approach to the computational modeling of equilibrium configurations for nematic liquid crystals under free elastic effects. The method targets minimization of the system free energy…
Nematic liquid crystals have been known for more than a century, but it was not until the 60s-70s that, with the development of room temperature nematics, they became widely used in applications. Polar nematic phases have been long-time…
Polar nematic liquid crystals have two special features, compared with conventional nematic liquid crystals. First, because of flexoelectricity, the combination of polar order and splay reduces the free energy. Second, because of…
We study a system of nonlinear partial differential equations modeling the electrokinetics of a nematic electrolyte material consisting of various ion species suspended in a nematic liquid crystal within a bounded domain in two or three…
The electroviscous effect deals with the change in the viscosity of fluids due to an external electric field. Here, we report experimental studies on the electroviscous effects in a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal. It was synthesised…
Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are formed by achiral molecules with large dipole moments. Its three-dimensional orientational order is universally described as unidirectionally polar. We demonstrate that the ground state of…
The solid nematic equivalent of the Fredericks transition is found to depend on a critical field rather than a critical voltage as in the classical case. This arises because director anchoring is principally to the solid rubbery matrix of…
Nematic elastomers and glasses deform spontaneously when subjected to temperature changes. This property can be exploited in the design of heterogeneously patterned thin sheets that deform into a non-trivial shape when heated or cooled. In…
Nematic phase is the most fundamental mesophase exhibited by most of the rod shaped anisotropic liquid crystalline molecules. Nematics are orientationally ordered fluids whose average orientation direction can be manipulated on application…
We report on the optical control of the recently observed electromechanical instability of ferroelectric liquid droplets exposed to the photovoltaic field of a lithium niobate ferroelectric crystal substrate. The ferroelectric liquid is a…
Correlated electron fluids can exhibit a startling array of complex phases, among which one of the more surprising is the electron nematic, a translationally invariant metallic phase with a spontaneously generated spatial anisotropy.…
Nematic liquid crystals exhibit configurations in which the underlying ordering changes markedly on macroscopic length scales. Such structures include topological defects in the nematic phase and tactoids within nematic-isotropic…
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…
Using laser tweezers and fluorescence confocal polarizing microscopy, we study colloidal interactions of solid microspheres in the nematic bulk caused by elastic distortions around the particles with strong tangential surface anchoring. The…