Related papers: High-Resolution Structure and Intermolecular Inter…
Active matter systems evade the constraints of thermal equilibrium, leading to the emergence of intriguing collective behavior. A paradigmatic example is given by motor-filament mixtures, where the motion of motor proteins drives alignment…
We review recent molecular dynamics simulations of thermally activated undulations and defects in the lamellar $L_\alpha$ phase of a binary amphiphile-solvent mixture, using an idealized molecular coarse-grained model: Solvent particles are…
The kinetics of the assembly of semiflexible filaments through end-to-end annealing is key to the structure of the cytoskeleton, but is not understood. We analyze this problem through scaling theory and simulations, and uncover a regime…
Microscale fluid flows generated by ensembles of beating eukaryotic flagella are crucial to fundamental processes such as development, motility and sensing. Despite significant experimental and theoretical progress, the underlying physical…
Recent experiments proposed to use confined bacteria in order to generate flows near surfaces. We develop a mathematical and a computational model of this fluid transport using a linear superposition of fundamental flow singularities. The…
Homogeneous in-plane biaxial tensile strain strengthens the out-of-plane van der Waals interaction in \MoS\ bilayers (BLs) and can be used to fine-tune their terahertz (THz) oscillations. Using ultralow-frequency Raman spectroscopy on…
In a previous paper, we examined a class of possible conformations for helically patterned filaments in contact with a bonding surface. In particular, we investigated geometries where contact between the pattern and the surface was improved…
Relying on symmetry considerations appropriate for helical biopolymers such as DNA and filamentous actin, we argue that crystalline packings of mutually repulsive helical macromolecules fall principally into two categories: unfrustrated…
Flexible filaments moving in viscous fluids are ubiquitous in the natural microscopic world. For example, the swimming of bacteria and spermatozoa as well as important physiological functions at organ-level, such as the cilia-induced motion…
Transition-metal dichalcogenides with their exciton-dominated optical behavior emerge as promising materials for realizing strong light-matter interactions in the visible range and at ambient conditions. When these materials are combined…
Bacteria can form a great variety of spatially heterogeneous cell density patterns, ranging from simple concentric rings to dynamical spiral waves appearing in growing colonies. These pattern formation phenomena are important as they…
Experiments on bilayer graphene unveiled a fascinating realization of stacking disorder where triangular domains with well-defined Bernal stacking are delimited by a hexagonal network of strain solitons. Here we show by means of numerical…
Flagellated bacteria exploiting helical propulsion are known to swim along circular trajectories near surfaces. Fluid dynamics predicts this circular motion to be clockwise (CW) above a rigid surface (when viewed from inside the fluid) and…
We study slender, helical elastic rods subject to distributed forces and moments. Focussing on the case when the helix axis remains straight, we employ the method of multiple scales to systematically derive an 'equivalent-rod' theory from…
Bundles of polymer filaments are responsible for the rich and unique mechanical behaviors of many biomaterials, including cells and extracellular matrices. In fibrin biopolymers, whose nonlinear elastic properties are crucial for normal…
E. coli bacteria swim following a run and tumble pattern. In the run state all flagella join in a single helical bundle that propels the cell body along approximately straight paths. When one or more flagellar motors reverse direction the…
Lipid lamellar hydrogels are rare soft fluids composed of a phospholipid lamellar phase instead of fibrillar networks. The mechanical properties of these materials are controlled by defects, induced by local accumulation of a polymer or…
The crystallization of bundles in filament networks interacting via long-range repulsions in confinement is described by a phenomenological model. The model demonstrates the formation of the hexagonal crystalline order via the interplay of…
Many of the cell membrane vital functions are achieved by the self-organization of the proteins and biopolymers embedded in it. The protein dynamics are in part determined by its drag. A large number of these proteins can polymerize to form…
Bacteriophage viruses, one of the most abundant entities in our planet, lack the ability to move independently. Instead, they crowd fluid environments in anticipation of a random encounter with a bacterium. Once they land on the cell body…