Related papers: Topological-defect-induced surface charge heteroge…

The interaction between two adjacent charged surfaces immersed in aqueous solution is known to be affected by charge regulation - the modulation of surface charge as two charged surfaces approach each other. This phenomenon is particularly…

We investigate the effects of electric double layers and flexoelectricity on the surface anchoring in general nematic fluids. Within a simplified model, we demonstrate for a nematic electrolyte how the surface anchoring strength can be…

We review some recent results on the equilibrium shapes of charged liquid drops. We show that the natural variational model is ill-posed and how this can be overcome by either restricting the class of competitors or by adding penalizations…

Regulation of topological structures and pattern formation is attracting wide interest in the field of condensed matter. Liquid crystals (LCs) represent soft matter with a remarkable combination of fluidity and anisotropic properties.…

Topological defects play a prominent role in the physics of two-dimensional materials. When driven out of equilibrium in active nematics, disclinations can acquire spontaneous self-propulsion and drive self-sustained flows upon…

We present a novel, self-consistent and robust theoretical model to investigate elastic interactions between topological defects in liquid crystal shells. Accounting for the non-concentric nature of the shell in a simple manner, we are able…

We propose the use of topographic modulation of surfaces to select and localize particles in nematic colloids. By considering convex and concave deformations of one of the confining surfaces we show that the colloid-flat surface repulsion…

Collectively moving cellular systems often contain a proportion of dead cells or non-motile genotypes. When mixed, nematically aligning motile and non-motile agents are known to segregate spontaneously. However, the role that topological…

Topological defects play a central role in the formation and organization of various biological systems. Historically, such nonequilibrium defects have been mainly studied in the context of homogeneous active nematics. Phase-separated…

We explore a novel strategy of patterning nematic elastomers that does not require inscribing the texture directly. It is based on varying the dopant concentration that, beside shifting the phase transition point, affects the nematic…

Nematic liquid crystals can dramatically reconfigure under dynamic forcing, providing exciting opportunities in active matter. Here, we study a hybrid disk colloid rotated by an external field which generates a dynamic companion topological…

When solid surfaces are immersed in aqueous solutions, some of their charges can dissociate and leave behind charge patches on the surface. Although the charges are distributed heterogeneously on the surface, most of the theoretical models…

Topological defects that form on surfaces of ordered media, dubbed boojums, are ubiquitous in superfluids, liquid crystals (LCs), Langmuir monolayers, and Bose-Einstein condensates. They determine supercurrents in superfluids, impinge on…

Topological defects are found in a variety of systems, and their existence are robust under perturbations due to their topological nature. Here we introduce a new type of topological defects found in electromagnetic waves: topological spin…

Defects are a ubiquitous feature of ordered media. They have certain universal features, independent of the underlying physical system, reflecting their topological origins. While the topological properties of defects are robust, they…

Defects arise when nematic liquid crystals are under topological constraints at the boundary. Recently the study of defects has drawn a lot of attention. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between two-dimensional defects and…

Combining topology and plasmonics paradigms in nanocolloidal systems may enable new means of pre-engineering desired composite material properties. Here we design and realize orientationally ordered assemblies of noble metal nanoparticles…

Topological insulators as new type of quantum matter materials are characterized by a full insulating gap in the bulk and gapless edge/surface states which are protected by time-reversal symmetry. We propose the interference patterns caused…

Electromagnetic topological insulators have been explored extensively due to the robust edge states they support. In this work, we propose a topological electromagnetic system based on a line defect in topologically nontrivial photonic…

Topological defects play a central role in the physics of many materials, including magnets, superconductors and liquid crystals. In active fluids, defects become autonomous particles that spontaneously propel from internal active stresses…