Related papers: Combing a double helix
Mechanical stretching of secondary structures is studied through molecular dynamics simulations of a Go-like model. Force vs. displacement curves are studied as a function of the stiffness and velocity of the pulling device. The succession…
The viscous liquid surrounding a hair bundle dissipates energy and dampens oscillations, which poses a fundamental physical challenge to the high sensitivity and sharp frequency selectivity of hearing. To identify the mechanical forces at…
We use a recently developed coarse-grained model for DNA to study kissing complexes formed by hybridization of complementary hairpin loops. The binding of the loops is topologically constrained because their linking number must remain…
A general continuum theory for the distribution of hairs in a bundle is developed, treating individual fibers as elastic filaments with random intrinsic curvatures. Applying this formalism to the iconic problem of the ponytail, the combined…
Inspired by the synchronized beating of cilia, we show that the collective dynamics of hair-like fibers in a meniscus during fast drainage enables their self-organization into multiple topologies including complex shape inversions. By…
Stirring of fluid with moving rods is necessary in many practical applications to achieve homogeneity. These rods are topological obstacles that force stretching of fluid elements. The resulting stretching and folding is commonly observed…
We examine the dynamics of two-dimensional colloidal systems using numerical simulations of a system with a drive applied to a thin region in the middle of the sample to produce a local shear. For a monodisperse colloidal assembly, we find…
Dense arrays of soft hair-like structures protruding from surfaces in contact with fluids are ubiquitous in living systems. Fluid flows can easily deform these soft hairs which in turn impacts the flow properties. At the microscale, flows…
Many living systems use assemblies of soft and slender structures whose deflections allow them to mechanically probe their immediate environment. In this work, we study the collective response of artificial soft hair assemblies to a shear…
We investigate the wetting properties of the simplest element of an array of random fibers: two rigid fibers crossing with an inclination angle and in contact with a droplet of a perfectly wetting liquid. We show experimentally that the…
This work introduces an approach for automatic hair combing by a lightweight robot. For people living with limited mobility, dexterity, or chronic fatigue, combing hair is often a difficult task that negatively impacts personal routines. We…
Type I collagen fibrils have circular cross sections with radii mostly distributed in between 50 and 100 nm and are characterized by an axial banding pattern with a period of 67 nm. The constituent long molecules of those fibrils, the…
The entanglement properties of a class of topological stabilizer states, the so called \emph{topological color codes} defined on a two-dimensional lattice or \emph{2-colex}, are calculated. The topological entropy is used to measure the…
Entangled states are ubiquitous amongst fibrous materials, whether naturally occurring (keratin, collagen, DNA) or synthetic (nanotube assemblies, elastane). A key mechanical characteristic of these systems is their ability to reorganise in…
One of the key aspects governing the mechanical performance of composite materials is debonding: the local separation of reinforcing constituents from matrix when the interfacial strength is exceeded. In this contribution, two strategies to…
We use a 3D computational model to study the fluid transport and mixing due to the beating of an infinite array of cilia. In accord with recent experiments, we observe two distinct regions: a fluid transport region above the cilia and a…
We provide a statistical and correlational analysis of the spatial and energetic properties of equilibrium configurations of a few-body system of two to eight equally charged classical particles that are confined on a one-dimensional…
When transported in confined geometries rigid fibers show interesting transport dynamics induced by friction with the top and bottom walls. Fiber flexibility causes an additional coupling between fiber deformation and transport and is…
Hairy black-holes are a unique prediction of certain theories that extend General Relativity (GR) with a scalar field. The presence of scalar hair is reflected non-trivially in the entropy of the black hole along with any topological…
Tissue engineering aims to grow artificial tissues \emph{in vitro} to replace those in the body that have been damaged through age, trauma or disease. A recent approach to engineer artificial cartilage involves seeding cells within a…