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We study the role of particle geometry in the ordering of bilayers of bent-core particles using a simplified two-dimensional model. Particles are confined to two parallel one-dimensional layers and can adopt only two discrete orientations…
It is shown that both structural phase transitions in Cd2Re2O7, which occur at T_{s1}=200 K and T_{s2}=120 K, are due to an instability of the Re tetrahedral network with respect to the same doubly degenerate long-wavelength phonon mode.…
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…
Understanding the spatial arrangements of atom-centered coordination octahedra is crucial for relating structures to properties for many materials families. Traditional case-by-case inspection becomes a prohibitive task for discovering…
Due to the lack of long-range order, it remains challenging to characterize the structure of disordered solids and understand the nature of the glass transition. Here we propose a new structural order parameter by taking into account…
Recent theories predict that when a supercooled liquid approaches the glass transition, particle clusters with a special "amorphous order" nucleate within the liquid, which lead to static correlations dictating the dramatic slowdown of…
Characterization of medium-range order in amorphous materials and its relation to short-range order is discussed. A new topological approach is presented here to extract a hierarchical structure of amorphous materials, which is robust…
The present investigation examines the relationship between structural order, diffusivity anomalies, and density anomalies in liquid silica by means of molecular dynamics simulations. We use previously defined orientational and…
Complex crystal structures are composed of multiple local environments, and how this type of order emerges spontaneously during crystal growth has yet to be fully understood. We study crystal growth across various structures and along…
We present a theoretical study of classical Wigner crystals in two- and three-dimensional isotropic parabolic traps aiming at understanding and quantifying the configurational uncertainty due to the presence of multiple stable…
A chain of singly-charged particles, confined by a harmonic potential, exhibits a sudden transition to a zigzag configuration when the radial potential reaches a critical value, depending on the particle number. This structural change is a…
Classical particle systems characterized by continuous size polydispersity, such as colloidal materials, are not straightforwardly described using statistical mechanics, since fundamental issues may arise from particle distinguishability.…
The ability to control the movement and assembly of particles in liquid crystals is not only an important route to design functional materials, but also sheds light on the mechanisms of colloidal interactions. In this study we place…
A geometrically nonlinear continuum mechanical theory is formulated for deformation and failure behaviors of amorphous polymers. The model seeks to capture material response over a range of loading rates, temperatures, and stress states…
Many classes of active matter develop spatial memory by encoding information in space, leading to complex pattern formation. It has been proposed that spatial memory can lead to more efficient navigation and collective behaviour in…
We show in simulations that a rich variety of novel orderings such as pinwheel and star states can be realized for colloidal molecular crystal mixtures at rational ratios of the number of colloids to the number of minima from an underlying…
Colloidal particles are often seen as big atoms that can be directly observed in real space. They are therefore playing an increasingly important role as model systems to study processes of interest in condensed matter physics such as…
Colloidal gels constitute an important class of materials found in many contexts and with a wide range of applications. Yet as matter far from equilibrium, gels exhibit a variety of time-dependent behaviours, which can be perplexing, such…
We study a dense colloidal suspension confined between two quasiparallel glass plates as a model system for a supercooled liquid in confined geometries. We directly observe the three-dimensional Brownian motion of the colloidal particles…
Homogeneous nucleation process of polyethylene (PE) is studied with full-atom molecular dynamic simulation. To account the complex shape with low symmetry and the peculiar intra-chain conformational order of polymer, we introduce a shape…