Related papers: Active cholesterics: odder than odd elasticity
We consider helical configurations of a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) sandwiched between two substrates with homogeneous director orientation favored at both confining plates. We study the CLC twist wavenumber $q$ characterizing the…
We consider a confined sheared active polar liquid crystal with a uniform orientation and study the effect of variations in the magnitude of polarization. Restricting our analysis to one-dimensional geometries, we demonstrate that with…
We investigate the effect of a strong magnetic field on a three dimensional smectic A liquid crystal. We identify a critical field above which the uniform layered state loses stability; this is associated to the onset of layer undulations.…
A wide range of physical and biological systems, including colloidal magnets, granular spinners, and starfish embryos, are characterized by strongly rotating units that give rise to odd viscosity and odd elasticity. These active systems can…
Building a general theoretical framework to describe the microscopic origin of macroscopic chirality in (colloidal) liquid crystals is a long-standing challenge. Here, we combine classical density functional theory with Monte Carlo…
We investigate the susceptibility of long-range ordered phases of two-dimensional dry aligning active matter to population disorder, taken in the form of a distribution of intrinsic individual chiralities. Using a combination of…
Understanding and controlling the director field configuration, shape, and orientation in nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals is of fundamental importance in several branches of science. Liquid crystalline droplets, also known as…
We investigate the hydrodynamic stability and the formation of patterns in a continuum model of epithelial layers, able to account for the interplay between mechanical activity, lateral adhesion and the $6-$fold orientational order…
We investigate density fluctuations in three-dimensional chiral active fluids by using a simple model of helical self-propelled particles. Helical motion is generated by a constant angular velocity (or chiral torque) acting on the…
We present here a numerical study of a lattice model of a chiral liquid. The low symmetry of the favoured local structure depresses the freezing point to reveal an exotic liquid-liquid transition characterised by the appearance of an…
We study the phase behaviour of cholesteric liquid crystal shells with different geometries. We compare the cases of tangential and no anchoring at the surface, focussing on the former case, which leads to a competition between the…
Chiral twisting of the molecular orientation within the layer of a smectic-A liquid crystal has been investigated using circular dichroism spectroscopy. The results indicate that a rotation of the layers away from the alignment direction is…
Colloidal particles trapped at an interface between two fluids can form a wide range of different structures. Replacing one of the fluid with a liquid crystal increases the complexity of interactions and results in a greater range of…
Understanding interactions between chiral active particles -- self-propelling and self-rotating entities -- is crucial for uncovering how chiral active matter self-organizes into dynamic structures. Although fluctuation-induced forces in…
Liquid crystals in two dimensions undergo a first-order isotropic-to-quasi-nematic transition, provided the particle interactions are sufficiently ``sharp and narrow''. This implies phase coexistence between isotropic and quasi-nematic…
Biomolecules are often very long with a definite chirality. DNA, xanthan and poly-gamma-benzyl-glutamate (PBLG) can all form columnar crystalline phases. The chirality, however, competes with the tendency for crystalline order. For chiral…
Even though chiral nematic phases were the first liquid crystals experimentally observed more than a century ago, the origin of the thermodynamic stability of cholesteric states is still unclear. In this Letter we address the problem by…
Using molecular simulations and classical density functional theory, we study the liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of a series of bent rod-like mesogens with a controlled degree of chirality introduced through a twist at the centre of the…
Chirality is a pervasive form of symmetry that is intimately connected to the physical properties of solids, as well as the chemical and biological activity of molecular systems. However, its control with light is challenging, because…
Liquid crystal elastomers are special cross-linked polymer materials combining the large elastic deformability of elastomers with the orientational orders of liquid crystals. This model exhibits markedly different phenomena than the liquid…