Related papers: Smart helical structures inspired by the pellicle …
Self-assembled monolayers of polyalanine $\alpha$-helices exhibit distinct structural phases with implications for chiral-induced spin selectivity. We combine scanning tunneling microscopy and theoretical modeling to reveal how chiral…
Cells exert traction forces on compliant substrates and can induce surface instabilities that appear as characteristic wrinkling patterns. Here, we develop a mechanical description of cell-induced wrinkling on soft substrates using a thin…
Using an algorithm for simulating equilibrium configurations, we study a fluctuating helical polymer either (i) contained in a cylindrical pore or (ii) wound around a cylindrical rod. We work in the regime where both the contour length and…
We present a new model which represents data as a mixture of simplices. Simplices are geometric structures that generalize triangles. We give a simple geometric understanding that allows us to learn a simplicial structure efficiently. Our…
In recent years the functionality of synthetic active microparticles has edged even closer to that of their biological counterparts. However, we still lack the understanding needed to recreate at the microscale key features of autonomous…
Flexible structures in an incoming perpendicular flow typically undergo elastic reconfiguration that reduces drag; however, at higher velocities, they are prone to dynamical instabilities that entail complex wake dynamics and fluctuating…
Proteins often form chiral assembly structures on a biomembrane. However, the role of the chirality in the interaction with an achiral membrane is poorly understood. Here, the differential behavior between chiral and achiral crescent-shaped…
The oblique helicoidal structure is formed in right-angle cholesterics under the applied electric field. The electric field changes the pitch and cone angle but preserves the single-harmonic modulation of the refractive index. As a result,…
Biological cells self-organize into living materials that uniquely blend structure with functionality and responsiveness to the environment. The integration of similar life-like features in man-made materials remains challenging, yet…
In this paper, a selection of elegant, highly symmetric examples of three-periodic tangled nets and filaments are presented. They are constructed via familiar crystal nets using edges as geometric scaffolds for n-fold helical windings.…
Spider silk is a remarkable biomaterial with exceptional stiffness, strength, and toughness stemming from a unique microstructure. While recent studies show that silk fibers exhibit plasticity, hysteresis, and recovery under cyclic loading,…
A thin flat rectangular plate supported on its edges and subjected to in-plane loading exhibits stable post-buckling behaviour. However, the introduction of a nonlinear (softening) elastic foundation may cause the response to become…
Robotic systems operating in unstructured environments require the ability to switch between compliant and rigid states to perform diverse tasks such as adaptive grasping, high-force manipulation, shape holding, and navigation in…
Spatially confined rigid membranes reorganize their morphology in response to the imposed constraints. A crumpled elastic sheet presents a complex pattern of random folds focusing the deformation energy while compressing a membrane resting…
Inspired by protein folding, we explored the construction of three-dimensional structures and machines from one-dimensional chains of simple building blocks. This approach not only allows us to recreate the self-replication mechanism…
Self-assembling novel ordered structures with nanoparticles has recently received much attention. Here we use computer simulations to study a two-dimensional model system characterized by a simple isotropic interaction that could be…
Patterns and forms adopted by Nature, such as the shape of living cells, the geometry of shells and the branched structure of plants, are often the result of simple dynamical paradigms. Here we show that a growing self-interacting string…
Flexibility governs the many properties of materials and is crucial for the function of proteins and biopolymers. However, how the self-assembly of flexibly bonded particles can lead to larger structures with global reconfigurability is…
Knitted fabrics exhibit high flexibility due to their periodic loop structures formed by bent yarns. Under compressive loading, they develop three-dimensional (3D) wrinkling patterns that reflect nonlinear interactions between yarn…
Recent experiments have exploited elastic instabilities in membranes to create complex patterns. However, the rational design of such structures poses many challenges, as they are products of nonlinear elastic behavior. We pose a simple…