Related papers: Topological defects in cholesteric liquid crystal …
When colloidal particles are vertically confined to a gap of between 1.3-1.6 particle diameters, they pack into buckled crystals of particles in either "up" or "down" states. Neighboring particles tend to occupy opposite states, analogous…
The ordering of nanoparticles into predetermined configurations is of importance to the design of advanced technologies. In this work, we moderate the surface anchoring against the bulk elasticity of liquid crystals to dynamically shape…
We demonstrate scaffolding of plasmonic nanoparticles by topological defects induced by colloidal microspheres to match their surface boundary conditions with a uniform far-field alignment in a liquid crystal host. Displacing energetically…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
Understanding geometric frustration of ordered phases in two-dimensional condensed matters on curved surfaces is closely related to a host of scientific problems in condensed matter physics and materials science. Here we show how…
We use a quantitative topological characterization of complex dynamics to measure geometric structures. This approach is used to analyze the weakly turbulent state of spiral defect chaos in experiments on Rayleigh-Benard convection.…
Topological properties of crystalline ice structures are studied by considering ring statistics, coordination sequences, and topological density of different ice phases. The coordination sequences (number of sites at topological distance k…
Because of the inevitably disordered background, structural defects are not well-defined concepts in amorphous solids. In order to overcome this difficulty, it has been recently proposed that topological defects can be still identified in…
An elastic quartic twist theory has recently been proposed for chromonic liquid crystals, intended to overcome the paradoxical conclusions encountered by the classical Oseen-Frank theory when applied to droplets submerged in an isotropic…
We show that the stacking of flat aromatic molecules on a curved surface results in topological defects. We consider, as an example, spherical vesicles, self-assembled from molecules with 5- and 6-thiophene cores. We predict that the…
We demonstrate that field theories involving explicit breaking of continous symmetries, incorporate two generic classes of topological defects each of which is stable for a particular range of parameters. The first class includes defects of…
The problem of heterogeneous nucleation of second-phase in alloys in the vicinity of elastic defects is considered. The defect can be a dislocation line or a crack tip residing in a crystalline solid. We use the Ginzburg-Landau equation to…
We study the vibrational spectra of one-dimensional statically compressed granular crystals (arrays of elastic particles in contact) containing defects. We focus on the prototypical settings of one or two spherical defects (particles of…
Spherical colloidal crystals (CCs) self-assemble on the interface between two liquids. These 2D structures unconventionally combine local hexagonal order and spherical geometry. Nowadays CCs are actively studied by altering their…
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…
We generalize the shape optimization problem for the existence of stable equilibrium configurations of nematic and cholesteric liquid crystal drops surrounded by an isotropic solution to include a broader family of admissible domains with…
Despite their considerable practical and biological applications, the link between molecular properties, assembly conditions and self-organized structure in confined polymer solutions remains elusive. Here, we explore the lyotropic nematic…
When flat or on a firm mechanical substrate, the atomic composition and atomistic structure of two-dimensional crystals dictate their chemical, electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. These properties change when the two-dimensional…
Engineering synthetic materials that mimic the remarkable complexity of living organisms is a fundamental challenge in science and technology. We study the spatiotemporal patterns that emerge when an active nematicfilm of microtubules and…
Confining a liquid crystal imposes topological constraints on the orientational order, allowing global control of equilibrium systems by manipulation of anchoring boundary conditions. In this article, we investigate whether a similar…