Related papers: Half-integer and full-integer topological defects …
We study, theoretically and numerically, the onset and development of modulational instability in an incoherently pumped spatially homogeneous polariton condensate. Within the framework of mean-field theory, we identify regimes of…
Spinorial or multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates may sustain fractional quanta of circulation, vorticant topological excitations with half integer windings of phase and polarization. Matter-light quantum fluids, such as microcavity…
The $s=1$ spinor Bose condensate at zero temperature supports ferromagnetic and polar phases that combine magnetic and superfluid ordering. We analyze the topological defects of the polar condensate, correcting previous studies, and show…
Many theories of the early universe predict the existence of a multiverse where bubbles continuously nucleate giving rise to observers in their interior. In this paper, we point out that topological defects of several dimensionalities will…
Topological quantum and classical materials can exhibit robust properties that are protected against disorder, for example for noninteracting particles and linear waves. Here, we demonstrate how to construct topologically protected states…
We propose schemes for the detection of topological defect dark matter using pulsars and other luminous extraterrestrial systems via non-gravitational signatures. The dark matter field, which makes up a defect, may interact with standard…
Many cell types spontaneously order like nematic liquid crystals, and, as such, they form topological defects. While defects with topological charge $\pm$1/2 are common in cell monolayers, the defects with charge $\pm$1, relevant in the…
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…
Topological defects are distinctive signatures of liquid crystals. They profoundly affect the viscoelastic behavior of the fluid by constraining the orientational structure in a way that inevitably requires global changes not achievable…
Multicomponent phase separation is a routine occurrence in both living and synthetic systems. Thermodynamics provides a straightforward path to determine the phase boundaries that characterize these transitions for systems at equilibrium.…
This article summarizes some of the open questions in the field of active matter that have emerged during Active20, a nine-week program held at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) in Spring 2020. The article does not provide…
Active nematics are fluids in which the components have nematic symmetry and are driven out of equilibrium due to the microscopic generation of an active stress. When the active stress is high, it drives flows in the nematic and can lead to…
We study the evolution of coherent structures in arbitrary turbulence phenomena, developing some tools, from non-archimedean analysis and algebraic geometry, in order to model its display. We match the scale-dependent, topological structure…
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…
Active matter comprises self-driven units, such as bacteria and synthetic microswimmers, that can spontaneously form complex patterns and assemble into functional microdevices. These processes are possible thanks to the out-of-equilibrium…
Rod-shaped bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, commonly live forming mounded colonies. They initially grow two-dimensionally on a surface and finally achieve three-dimensional growth. While it was recently reported that three-dimensional…
We investigate the dynamics of an active particle in two-dimensional spherical crystals, which provide an ideal environment to illustrate the interplay of active particle and crystallographic defects. A moving active particle is observed to…
Coherent vortical motion has been reported in a wide variety of populations including living organisms (bacteria, fishes, human crowds) and synthetic active matter (shaken grains, mixtures of biopolymers), yet a unified description of the…
One of the most well known features of active matter is the tendencey of self-propelled particles to undergo system-wide collective motion. With low enough rotational noise or high enough global density, these systems spontaneously break…
Rapid progress has been made in observations of the temperature anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). These observations have enabled cosmologists to characterize the state of the universe at recombination, and…