Related papers: Discontinuous order parameters in liquid crystal t…
How condensed-matter simulations depend on the number of molecules being simulated ($N$) is sometimes itself a valuable piece of information. Liquid crystals provide a case in point. Light scattering and $2d$-IR experiments on…
Biological processes such as embryogenesis, wound healing and cancer progression, crucially rely on the ability of epithelial cells to coordinate their mechanical activity over length scales order of magnitudes larger than the typical…
We study a model system with nematic and magnetic orders, within a channel geometry modelled by an interval, $[-D, D]$. The system is characterised by a tensor-valued nematic order parameter $\mathbf{Q}$ and a vector-valued magnetisation…
We describe a numerical investigation of a continuum model of an active nematic, concentrating on the regime of active turbulence. Results are presented for the effect of three parameters, activity, elastic constant and rotational diffusion…
We discuss instabilities of fluid films of nanoscale thickness, with a particular focus on films where the destabilising mechanism allows for linear instability, metastability, and absolute stability. Our study is motivated by nematic…
Using a generalized order parameter gradient expansion within density functional theory, we derive a phase-field-crystal model for liquid crystals composed by apolar particles in three spatial dimensions. Both the translational density and…
Machine learning methods are being explored in many areas of science, with the aim of finding solution to problems that evade traditional scientific approaches due to their complexity. In general, an order parameter capable of identifying…
Using a version of density-functional theory which combines Onsager approximation and fundamental-measure theory for spatially nonuniform phases, we have studied the phase diagram of freely rotating hard rectangles and hard discorectangles.…
We investigate energetically favorable configurations of point disclinations in nematic films having a bump geometry. Gradual expansion in the bump width {\Delta} gives rise to a sudden shift in the stable position of the disclinations from…
We introduce the theoretical framework we use to study the bewildering variety of phases in condensed--matter physics. We emphasize the importance of the breaking of symmetries, and develop the idea of an order parameter through several…
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…
Ordered phases on curved substrates experience a complex interplay of ordering and intrinsic curvature, commonly producing frustration and singularities. This is an especially important issue in crystals as ever-smaller scale materials are…
The optical properties of liquid crystals serve as the basis for display, diagnostic, and sensing technologies. Such properties are generally controlled by relying on electric fields. In this work, we investigate the effects of microfluidic…
Dynamics of small particles, both living such as swimming bacteria and inanimate, such as colloidal spheres, has fascinated scientists for centuries. If one could learn how to control and streamline their chaotic motion, that would open…
In many growth processes particles are highly mobile in an active layer at the surface, but are relatively immobile once incorporated in the bulk. We study models in which atoms are allowed to interact, equilibrate, and order on the…
Motivated by recent experimental observations [U. Delabre et al, Langmuir 24, 3998, 2008] we reconsider an instability of ultrathin nematic films, spread on liquid substrates. Within a continuum elastic theory of liquid crystals, in the…
We demonstrate a variety of ordered patterns, including hexagonal structures and chains, formed by colloidal particles (droplets) at the free surface of a nematic liquid crystal (LC). The surface placement introduces a new type of particle…
Defects in liquid crystals are of great practical importance and theoretical interest. Despite tremendous efforts, predicting the location and transition of defects under various topological constraint and external field remains to be a…
Liquid crystal elastomers represent a novel class of programmable shape-transforming materials whose shape change trajectory is encoded in the material's nematic director field. Using three-dimensional nonlinear finite element…
The deformation and flow of disordered solids, such as metallic glasses and concentrated emulsions, involves swift localized rearrangements of particles that induce a long-range deformation field. To describe these heterogeneous processes,…