Related papers: Topological phase transitions in 2-dimensional ben…
We use molecular dynamics to study the ordering of a nematic liquid crystal around a spherical particle or droplet. Homeotropic boundary conditions and strong anchoring create a hedgehog director configuration on the particle surface and in…
We study a two-dimensional fluid of particles interacting through a spherically-symmetric and marginally soft two-body repulsion. This model can exist in three different crystal phases, one of them with square symmetry and the other two…
We perform large scale finite-temperature Monte Carlo simulations of the classical $e_g$ and $t_{2g}$ orbital models on the simple cubic lattice in three dimensions. The $e_g$ model displays a continuous phase transition to an orbitally…
We show that topological phases with fractional excitations can occur in two-dimensional ultracold dipolar gases on a particular class of optical lattices. Due to the dipolar interaction and lattice confinement, a quantum dimer model…
The nematic-to-isotropic orientational phase transition, or equivalently the $RP^2$ model, is considered in two dimensions and the question of the nature of the phase transition is addressed. Using powerful conformal techniques adapted to…
An intermediate nematic phase is proposed for the interpretation of recent experimental results on phase biaxiality in bent-core nematics. The phase is macroscopically uniaxial but consists of microscopic biaxial, and possibly polar,…
We consider a two-dimensional lattice model for liquid crystals consisting of long rods interacting via purely hard core interactions, with two allowed orientations defined by the underlying lattice. We rigorously prove the existence of a…
The Lebwohl-Lasher (LL) model is the traditional model used to describe the nematic-isotropic transition of real liquid crystals. In this paper, we develop a numerical study of the temperature behaviour and of finite-size scaling of the…
We present a simplified molecular model of mesogenic dimers consisting of two identical uniaxial mesogenic cores separated by a fixed-length spacer and allowed to assume only two, statistically equivalent, conformations which are non-planar…
The phase diagram for a lattice system of biaxial molecules possessing $D_{2h}$ symmetry and interacting with Straley's quadrupolar pair potential in Sonnet-Virga-Durand parameterization [A. M. Sonnet, E. G. Virga, and G. E. Durand, Phys.…
The ordering of the classical Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice with the the bilinear-biquadratic interaction is studied by Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that the model exhibits a topological phase transition at a…
The configurational and melting properties of large two-dimensional clusters of charged classical particles interacting with each other via the Coulomb potential are investigated through the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The particles…
Strongly interacting electrons in layered materials give rise to a plethora of emergent phenomena, such as unconventional superconductivity. heavy fermions, and spin textures with non-trivial topology. Similar effects can also be observed…
Topological quantum phase transitions are characterised by changes in global topological invariants. These invariants classify many body systems beyond the conventional paradigm of local order parameters describing spontaneous symmetry…
Electronic tunability in crystals with weakly-bound layers can be achieved through layer stacking order. One such example is MoTe$_2$, where the low-temperature orthorhombic T$_d$ phase is topological and host to Weyl quasiparticles. The…
We show that the evolution of two-component particles governed by a two-dimensional spin-orbit lattice Hamiltonian can reveal transitions between topological phases. A kink in the mean width of the particle distribution signals the closing…
We numerically investigate two-dimensional systems of hard rectangles at constant pressure through extensive hard-particle Monte Carlo simulations. We determine the complete phase diagram as a function of packing fraction and aspect ratio,…
We report the structure of transient fluctuations in the liquid phase of a two-dimensional system that exhibits several ordered phases with different symmetries. The density-temperature phase diagram of the system studied, composed of…
Nematic liquid crystals possess three different phases: isotropic, uniaxial, and biaxial. The ground state of most nematics is either isotropic or uniaxial, depending on the external temperature. Nevertheless, biaxial domains have been…
The confining effect of a spherical substrate inducing anchoring (normal to the surface) of rod-like liquid crystal molecules contained in a thin film spread over it has been investigated with regard to possible changes in the nature of the…