Related papers: Transfer of planar orders onto a sphere: formation…
Extended topological defects (ETDs) arising in spherical hexagonal crystals due to their curvature are considered. These prevalent defects carry a unit total topological charge and are surrounded by scalene pentagonal boundaries.…
Many systems in nature and the synthetic world involve ordered arrangements of units on two-dimensional surfaces. We review here the fundamental role payed by both the topology of the underlying surface and its detailed curvature. Topology…
The best-understood crystal ordering transition is that of two-dimensional freezing, which proceeds by the rapid eradication of lattice defects as the temperature is lowered below a critical threshold. But crystals that assemble on closed…
The order parameter of the smectic liquid crystal phase is the same as that of a superfluid or superconductor, namely a complex scalar field. We show that the essential difference in boundary conditions between these systems leads to a…
We investigate the assembly of the dipole-like patchy particles confined to a spherical surface by Brownian dynamics simulations. The surface property of the spherical particle is described by the spherical harmonic $Y_{10}$, and the…
The tenfold classification provides a powerful framework for organizing topological phases of matter based on symmetry and spatial dimension. However, it does not offer a systematic method for transitioning between classes or engineering…
A hallmark feature of topologically ordered states of matter is the dependence of ground state degeneracy (GSD) on the topology of the manifold determined by the global shape of the system. Although the topology of a physical system is…
Smectic orders on curved substrates can be described by differential forms of rank one (1-forms), whose geometric meaning is the differential of the local phase field of density modulation. The exterior derivative of 1-form is the local…
We investigate the modifications brought about by the linear connectivity among charges in the classical Thomson problem. Instead of packing with local hexagonal order intersperced with topological defects, we find charge distributions with…
Hard sphere systems are often used to model simple fluids. The configuration spaces of hard spheres in a three-dimensional torus modulo various symmetry groups are comparatively simple, and could provide valuable information about the…
Many cell types spontaneously order like nematic liquid crystals, and, as such, they form topological defects. While defects with topological charge $\pm$1/2 are common in cell monolayers, the defects with charge $\pm$1, relevant in the…
In amorphous materials, plasticity is localized and occurs as shear transformations. It was recently shown by Wu et al. that these shear transformations can be predicted by applying topological defect concepts developed for liquid crystals…
Topology and geometry of a sphere create constraints for particles that lie on its surface which they otherwise do not experience in Euclidean space. Notably, the number of particles and the size of the system can be varied separately,…
A crystal structure with a point defect typically returns to its ideal local structure upon moving a few bond lengths away from the defect; topological defects such as dislocations or disclinations also heal rapidly in this regard. Here we…
Many physical systems involve two types of orientational order, which are coupled together. For example, ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals have coupled polar and nematic order, and tilted hexatic phases have coupled polar and hexatic…
Composed of square particles, the tetratic phase is characterised by a four-fold symmetry with quasi-long-range orientational order but no translational order. We construct the elastic free energy for tetratics and find a closed form…
We show that topological defects in an ion-doped nematic liquid crystal can be used to manipulate the surface charge distribution on chemically homogeneous, charge-regulating external surfaces, using a minimal theoretical model. In…
Topological defects with symmetry-breaking phase transitions have captured much attention. Vortex generated by topological defects exhibits exotic properties and its flow direction can be switched by altering the spin configurations.…
We propose a general theory for surface patterning in many different biological systems, including mite and insect cuticles, pollen grains, fungal spores, and insect eggs. The patterns of interest are often intricate and diverse, yet an…
Characterizing the complex spectrum of topological defects in ground states of curved crystals is a long-standing problem with wide implications, from the mathematical Thomson problem to diverse physical realizations, including fullerenes…