Related papers: Inverse Solidification Induced by Active Janus Par…
We find an order-disorder transition from crystals to disordered crystals for static packings of frictionless spheres. While the geometric indicators are mostly blind to the transition, disordered crystals already exhibit properties apart…
Crystal defects crucially influence the properties of crystalline materials and have been extensively studied. Even for the simplest type of defect - the point defect - however, basic properties such as their diffusive behavior, and their…
A crystalline solid exhibits thermally induced localised {\em non-affine} droplets in the absence of external stress. Here we show that upon an imposed shear, the size of these droplets grow until they percolate at a critical strain, well…
We present evidence for entangled solid vortex matter in a glassy state in a layered superconductor Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+y}$ containing randomly splayed linear defects. The interlayer phase coherence--probed by the Josephson plasma…
Electrokinetically-driven Janus colloids, e.g., with one metallic and one dielectric hemisphere, confined between parallel walls exhibit a boundary-accumulation mechanism enabled by an effective cross-channel diffusivity which is distinct…
We study the initial stages of homogeneous melting of a hexagonal ice crystal at coexistence and at moderate superheating. Our trajectory-based computer simulation approach provides a comprehensive picture of the events that lead to…
A single light-driven Janus particle confined in a very thin oil droplet at an air--water interface displays intriguing dynamics. While laser activation induces rapid horizontal motion (1mm/s--1cm/s) by thermal Marangoni flow, the particle…
Janus particles are special types of nano or micro particles possessing at least two surfaces with distinct physical or chemical properties. The most studied Janus particles are the metal-dielectric particles, in which half surface of…
We describe a novel crystal growth instability that enhances the development of thin edges, promoting the formation of plate-like or hollow columnar morphologies. This instability arises when diffusion-limited growth is coupled with…
Amorphous solids, such as metallic, polymeric, and colloidal glasses, display complex spatiotemporal response to applied deformations. In contrast to crystalline solids, during loading, amorphous solids exhibit a smooth crossover from…
Patchy colloidal model with three and four equivalent patches, confined in the attractive random porous media, undergo re-entrant gas-liquid phase separation with the possibility for the liquid phase density to approach zero. This unusual…
Recent experiments have shown that sodium, a prototype simple metal at ambient conditions, exhibits unexpected complexity under high pressure. One of the most puzzling phenomena in the behaviour of dense sodium is the pressure-induced drop…
We present a one dimensional model for the nonlinear response of a colloidal crystal to intense light illumination along a high symmetry direction. The strong coupling between light and the colloidal lattice, via the electric gradient force…
We consider the possibility that thermalized dark-matter particles acquire their mass thanks to the spontaneous breaking of a symmetry below some critical temperature. We describe the regime where a freeze out mechanism takes place shortly…
The mechanisms by which light interacts with ice and the impact of photo-induced reactions are central to our understanding of environmental, atmospheric and astrophysical processes. However, a microscopic description of the photoproducts…
This paper investigates by in situ high-resolution X-ray radiography and tomography the behaviour of colloidal suspensions of alumina particles during directional solidification by freezing. The combination of these techniques provided both…
We study elastic interactions between colloidal particles and deformation landscapes of undulations in a cholesteric liquid crystal under an electric field applied normal to cholesteric layers. The onset of undulation instability is…
Colloidal gels have unique mechanical and transport properties that stem from their bicontinous nature, in which a colloidal network is intertwined with a viscous solvent, and have found numerous applications in foods, cosmetics,…
We numerically study a nondisordered lattice spin system with a first order liquid-crystal transition, as a model for supercooled liquids and glasses. Below the melting temperature the system can be kept in the metastable liquid phase, and…
Catalytically active Janus particles suspended in solution create gradients in the chemical composition of the solution along their surfaces, as well as along any nearby container walls. The former leads to self-phoresis, while the latter…