Related papers: Mapping Disorder in Entropically Ordered Crystals
Classical hard spheres crystallize at equilibrium at high enough density. Crystals made up of stackings of 2-dimensional hexagonal close-packed layers (e.g. fcc, hcp, etc.) differ in entropy by only about $10^{-3}k_B$ per sphere (all…
Herein, fundamentals of topology and symmetry breaking are used to understand crystallization and geometrical frustration in topologically close-packed structures. This frames solidification from a new perspective that is unique from…
We show that two-dimensional systems of deformable particles undergo a continuous liquid-hexatic transition upon compression or cooling, but no hexatic-solid transition-even at zero temperature and high density. Numerical simulations reveal…
The melting transition of two-dimensional (2D) systems is a fundamental problem in condensed matter and statistical physics that has advanced significantly through the application of computational resources and algorithms. 2D systems…
We numerically study two-dimensional athermal chiral active particles at high densities. The particles in this system perform the circular motion with frequency $\Omega$. We show that the system crystallizes at high densities even in two…
An accurate description of a columnar liquid crystal of hard disks at high packing fractions is presented using an improved free-volume theory. It is shown that the orientational entropy of the disks in the one-dimensional fluid direction…
Entropy alone can self-assemble hard particles into colloidal crystals of remarkable complexity whose structures are the same as atomic and molecular crystals, but with larger lattice spacings. Although particle-based molecular simulation…
Entropy drives the phase behavior of colloids ranging from dense suspensions of hard spheres or rods to dilute suspensions of hard spheres and depletants. Entropic ordering of anisotropic shapes into complex crystals, liquid crystals, and…
Despite its fundamental and technological importance, a microscopic understanding of the crystallization process is still elusive. By computer simulations of the hard-sphere model we reveal the mechanism by which thermal fluctuations drive…
Crystallization is a process of great practical relevance in which rare but crucial fluctuations lead to the formation of a solid phase starting from the liquid. Like in all first order first transitions there is an interplay between…
Crystals with low latent heat are predicted to melt from an entropically stabilized body-centered cubic symmetry. At this weakly first-order transition, strongly correlated fluctuations are expected to emerge, which could change the nature…
We introduce a computational method to discover polymorphs in molecular crystals at finite temperature. The method is based on reproducing the crystallization process starting from the liquid and letting the system discover the relevant…
We investigate the early part of the crystal nucleation process in the hard sphere fluid using data produced by computer simulation. We find that hexagonal order manifests continuously in the overcompressed liquid, beginning approximately…
The selection of stacking order in a broad range of close-packed polymorphic materials remains a challenging enigma. Using in situ cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, we uncover the atomistic mechanisms governing the vapour…
Divergences that occur in density matrices of decay and scattering processes are shown to be regularized by tracing and unitarity or the optical theorem. These divergences are regularized by the lifetime of the decaying particle or the…
Exploring structural order in disordered systems including liquids and glasses is an intriguing but challenging issue in condensed matter physics. Here we construct a new parameter based on the angular distribution function of particles and…
The dynamical properties and mechanical functions of amorphous materials are governed by their microscopic structures, particularly the elasticity of the interaction networks, which is generally complicated by structural heterogeneity. This…
We derive a functional for the entropy contributed by any microscopic degrees of freedom as arising from their measurable pair correlations. Applicable both in and out of equilibrium, this functional yields the maximum entropy which a…
While uniform temperature has no effect on equilibrium properties of hard-core systems, its gradient might substantially change their behaviour. In particular, in hard-disk system subject to temperature difference $\Delta T$ disks are…
We propose that extended orientational correlations can appear at the surface of supercooled heavy noble liquid metals, due to the same compressive forces that cause reconstruction of their crystal surfaces. Simulations for liquid Au show a…