Related papers: Ridge approximation for thin nematic polymer netwo…
This paper investigates the approximation properties of deep neural networks with piecewise-polynomial activation functions. We derive the required depth, width, and sparsity of a deep neural network to approximate any H\"{o}lder smooth…
The accurate description of molecule-surface interactions requires a detailed knowledge of the underlying potential-energy surface (PES). Recently, neural networks (NNs) have been shown to be an efficient technique to accurately interpolate…
We propose a precise and efficient physics-augmented neural network (PANN) to model strain-induced crystallization in rubbery polymers. We demonstrate that the model can be flexibly employed for both unfilled and filled natural rubber (NR).…
Using a mapping of compact polymers on the Manhattan lattice to spanning trees, we calculate exactly the average number of bends at infinite temperature. We then find, in a high temperature approximation, the energy of the system as a…
We analyze an elastic surface energy which was recently introduced by G. Napoli and L.Vergori to model thin films of nematic liquid crystals. We show how a novel approach that takes into account also the extrinsic properties of the surfaces…
An elastic membrane with embedded nematic molecules is considered as a model of anisotropic fluid membrane with internal ordering. By considering the geometric coupling between director field and membrane curvature, the nematic texture is…
We examine a reduced membrane model of liquid crystal polymer networks (LCNs) via asymptotics and computation. This model requires solving a minimization problem for a non-convex stretching energy. We show a formal asymptotic derivation of…
Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked polymer networks covalently bonded with liquid crystal mesogens. In the nematic phase, due to strong coupling between mechanical strain and orientational order, these materials display…
Cells moving on a two dimensional substrate generate motion by polymerizing actin filament networks inside a flat membrane protrusion. New filaments are generated by branching off existing ones, giving rise to branched network structures.…
Recently, nanofluidics experiments have been used to characterize the behavior of single DNA molecules confined to narrow slits etched with arrays of nanopits. Analysis of the experimental data relies on analytical estimates of the…
Self-assembly of colloidal particles due to elastic interactions in nematic liquid crystals promises tunable composite materials and can be guided by exploiting surface functionalization, geometric shape and topology, though these means of…
Nematic liquid crystals in a polyhedral domain, a prototype for bistable displays, may be described by a unit-vector field subject to tangent boundary conditions. Here we consider the case of a rectangular prism. For configurations with…
We study the activated motion of adsorbed polymers which are driven over a structured substrate by a localized point force.Our theory applies to experiments with single polymers using, for example, tips of scanning force microscopes to drag…
Large scale molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the dispersion of nanoparticles (NPs) in a polymer film during solvent evaporation. As the solvent evaporates, a dense polymer-rich skin layer forms at the liquid/vapor interface,…
Amphiphilic polymer co-networks (APCNs) provide a large toolbox for tuning coatings important for applications such as bio-interfaces. Therefore, we investigate the influence of network composition and environmental conditions on the…
Network models are used as efficient representation of materials with complex, interconnected locally one-dimensional structures. They typically accurately capture the mechanical properties of a material, while substantially reducing…
We image semi-flexible polymer networks under shear at the micrometer scale. By tracking embedded probe particles, we determine the local strain field, and directly measure its uniformity, or degree of affineness, on scales of 2-100 micron.…
The field of active nematics has traditionally employed descriptions based on dipolar activity, with interactions that align along a single axis. However, it has been theoretically predicted that interactions with a substrate, prevalent in…
We study the adhesion between a cross-linked elastomer and a flat solid surface where polymer chains have been end-grafted. To understand the adhesive feature of such a system, one has to study both the origin of the grafted layer…
Neuronal networks constitute a special class of dynamical systems, as they are formed by individual geometrical components, namely the neurons. In the existing literature, relatively little attention has been given to the influence of…