Related papers: Alignment of a topological defect by an activity g…
Inspired by recent experiments that highlight the role of nematic defects in the morphogenesis of epithelial tissues, we develop a minimal framework to study the dynamics of an active curved surface driven by its nematic texture. Allowing…
The properties of liquid crystals can be modelled using an order parameter which describes the variability of the local orientation of rod-like molecules. Defects in the director field can arise due to external factors such as applied…
Topological defects are at the root of the large-scale organization of liquid crystals. In two-dimensional active nematics, two classes of topological defects of charges $\pm 1/2$ are known to play a major role due to active stresses.…
The hydrodynamics of a liquid-vapour interface in contact with an heterogeneous surface is largely impacted by the presence of defects at the smaller scales. Such defects introduce morphological disturbances on the contact line and…
Topology optimization methods have widely been used in various industries, owing to their potential for providing promising design candidates for mechanical devices. However, their applications are usually limited to the objects which do…
We use molecular dynamics to study the ordering of a nematic liquid crystal around a spherical particle or droplet. Homeotropic boundary conditions and strong anchoring create a hedgehog director configuration on the particle surface and in…
Morphological trends in growing colonies of living cells are at the core of physiological and evolutionary processes. Using active gel equations, which include cell division, we show that shape changes during the growth can be regulated by…
Self-propelled bacteria are marvels of nature with a potential to power dynamic materials and microsystems of the future. The challenge is in commanding their chaotic behavior. By dispersing swimming Bacillus subtilis in a…
We propose a quantum approach to nonequilibrium dynamics which combines the successful aspects of classical-statistical simulations on a lattice with the ability to take into account quantum corrections. It is based on the 2PI effective…
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…
In this work we present the first systematic framework to sculpt active nematics systems, using optimal control theory and a hydrodynamic model of active nematics. We demonstrate the use of two different control fields, (1) applied…
This paper is dedicated to studying various aspects of topological defects, appearing in mean-field theory treatments of physical systems such as ultracold atomic gases and gauge field theories. We start by investigating topological charge…
Active matter represents a class of non-equilibrium systems that constantly dissipate energy to produce directed motion. The thermodynamic control of active matter holds great potential for advancements in synthetic molecular motors,…
Numerous cell-types have shown a remarkable ability to detect and move along gradients in stiffness of an underlying substrate -- a process known as durotaxis. The mechanisms underlying durotaxis are still unresolved, but generally believed…
The defect morphology is an essential aspect of the evolution of crystals' microstructure and its response to stress. Existing methods either only report defect concentration or characterize only some of the defect morphologies. The need…
Topological defects are crucial to the thermodynamics and structure of condensed matter systems. For instance, when incorporated into crystalline membranes like graphene, disclinations with positive and negative topological charge…
We construct a function of the edge-lengths of a triangulated surface whose variation under a rescaling of all the edges that meet at a vertex is the defect angle at that vertex. We interpret this function as a gravitational effective…
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…
Structure and dynamics of penta-hepta defects in hexagonal patterns is studied in the framework of coupled amplitude equations for underlying plane waves. Analytical solution for phase field of moving PHD is found in the far field, which…
In practice, optimization tasks have some structure that allows developing new algorithms for every problem with faster convergence rates. Using the structure of optimization tasks, we can propose algorithms with more optimistic convergence…