Related papers: Pattern-induced anchoring transitions in nematic l…
Liquid crystals are synthetic and biological viscoelastic anisotropic soft matter materials that combine liquid fluidity with crystal anisotropy and find use in optical devices, sensor/actuators, lubrication, super-fibers. Frequently…
We consider a nematic liquid crystal confined by two parallel flat substrates whose anchoring conditions vary periodically in one lateral direction. Within the Gaussian approximation, we study the effective forces between the patterned…
We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…
Rod-like objects at high packing fractions can form smectic phases, where the rods break rotational and translational symmetry by forming lamellae. Smectic defects thereby include both discontinuities in the rod orientational order…
Disclination configurations of a nematic liquid crystal are studied within a self-consistent molecular field theory. The theory is based on a tensor order parameter, and can accommodate anisotropic elastic energies without the known…
We theoretically and numerically studied ordering of "colloidal ionic clusters" on periodic substrate potentials as those generated by optical trapping. Each cluster consists of three charged spherical colloids: two negatively and one…
Chiral condensed matter systems, such as liquid crystals and magnets, exhibit a host of spatially localized topological structures that emerge from the medium's tendency to twist and its competition with confinement and field coupling…
We consider a nematic liquid crystal, in coexistence with its isotropic phase, in contact with a substrate patterned with rectangular grooves. In such a system, the nematic phase may fill the grooves without the occurrence of complete…
The optical polarimetry technique is used to explore molecular ordering of nematic liquid crystals 5FPFFPP3 embedded in parallel cylindrical channels of alumina membranes with pore walls covered by a SE-1211 polymer film enhancing normal…
We use molecular dynamics to study the ordering of a nematic liquid crystal around a spherical particle or droplet. Homeotropic boundary conditions and strong anchoring create a hedgehog director configuration on the particle surface and in…
Instabilities of fluid-fluid interfaces are ubiquitous in passive soft matter. Adding activity to the interface or either fluid can dramatically change the stability of the interface. Using experiment and theory, we investigate the…
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…
Optical methods are most convenient to analyze spatially periodic patterns with wavevector $\bm q$ in a thin layer of a nematic liquid crystal. In the standard experimental setup a beam of parallel light with a 'short' wavelength $\lambda…
Ultra-clean crystals of Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ undergo a metamagnetic transition at low temperatures. This transition shows a strong anisotropy in the applied field direction with the critical field $H_c$ ranging from $\sim 5.1$T for $H\perp c$…
An experimental setting for the polarimetric study of optically induced dynamical behavior in nematic liquid crystal films has allowed to identify most notably some behavior which was recognized as gluing bifurcations leading to chaos. This…
Geometric frustration is a widespread phenomenon in physics, materials science, and biology, occurring when the geometry of a system prevents local interactions from being all accommodated. The resulting manifold of nearly degenerate…
For two-patch particles in two dimensions, we find that the coupling of anisotropic patchy interactions and the triangular lattice leads to novel phase behaviors. For asymmetric patch-patch (PP) and nonpatch-nonpatch (NN) interactions, the…
We study the phase behaviour of cholesteric liquid crystal shells with different geometries. We compare the cases of tangential and no anchoring at the surface, focussing on the former case, which leads to a competition between the…
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…
The possible symmetries of the biaxial nematic phase are examined against the implications of the presently available experimental results. Contrary to the widespread notion that biaxial nematics have orthorhombic symmetry, our study shows…