Related papers: Framework for liquid crystal based particle models
Nematic liquid crystals at rough and fluctuating interfaces are analyzed within the Frank elastic theory and the Landau-de Gennes theory. We study specifically interfaces that locally favor planar anchoring. In the first part we reconsider…
We demonstrate that a first order isotropic-to-nematic phase transition in liquid crystals can be succesfully modeled within the generalized Landau-de Gennes theory by selecting an appropriate combination of elastic constants. The numerical…
Vibrated monolayers of granular particles confined into horizontal cavities form a variety of fluid patterns with orientational order that resemble equilibrium liquid-crystal phases. In some cases one can identify nematic and smectic…
Both uniaxial and biaxial nematic liquid crystals are defined by orientational ordering of their building blocks. While uniaxial nematics only orient the long molecular axis, biaxial order implies local order along three axes. As the…
The original Thomson problem of "spherical crystallography" seeks the ground state of electron shells interacting via the Coulomb potential; however one can also study crystalline ground states of particles interacting with other…
We discuss the higher-order topological field theory and response of topological crystalline insulators with no other symmetries. We show how the topology and geometry of the system is organised in terms of the elasticity tetrads which are…
Disclination lines in three-dimensional nematic liquid crystals generically form closed loops whose topology is classified by homotopy theory. While this classification successfully captures global topological features, it does not encode…
Morphogenesis of living systems involves topological shape transformations which are highly unusual in the inanimate world. Here we demonstrate that a droplet of a nematic liquid crystal changes its equilibrium shape from a simply-connected…
We discuss a 3D model describing the time evolution of nematic liquid crystals in the framework of Landau-de Gennes theory, where the natural physical constraints are enforced by a singular free energy bulk potential proposed by J.M. Ball…
We describe a general model for the free energy function for a homogeneous medium of mutually interacting molecules, based on the formalism for a biaxial nematic liquid crystal set out by Katriel {\em et al.} (1986) in an influential paper…
Liquid crystals formed by acute-angle bent-core (ABC) molecules with a 1,7 naphthalene central core show an intriguing phase behavior with the nematic phase accompanied by poorly understood additional phases. In this work, we characterize…
Photonic modes exhibiting a polarization winding akin to a vortex possess an integer topological charge. Lasing with topological charge 1 or 2 can be realized in periodic lattices of up to six-fold rotational symmetry. Higher order charges…
We study uniaxial energy-minimizers within the Landau-de Gennes theory for nematic liquid crystals on a three-dimensional spherical droplet subject to homeotropic boundary conditions. We work in the low-temperature regime and show that…
We consider the one-constant Landau - de Gennes model for nematic liquid crystals. The order parameter is a traceless tensor field $\mathbf{Q}$, which is constrained to be uniaxial: $\mathbf{Q} = s (\mathbf{n}\otimes\mathbf{n} - d^{-1}…
Disclinations lines play a key role in many physical processes, from the fracture of materials to the formation of the early universe. Achieving versatile control over disclinations is key to developing novel electro-optical devices,…
We study light scattering by a hedgehog-like and linear disclination topological defects in a nematic liquid crystal by a metric approach. Light propagating near such defects feels an effective metric equivalent to the spatial part of the…
Topology, a mathematical concept, has recently become a popular and truly transdisciplinary topic encompassing condensed matter physics, solid state chemistry, and materials science. Since there is a direct connection between real space,…
We explore the finite-density phase diagram of the single-flavour Gross-Neveu-Wilson (GNW) model using matrix product state (MPS) simulations. At zero temperature and along the symmetry line of the phase diagram, we find a sequence of…
We present a Hamiltonian framework for higher-dimensional vortex filaments (or membranes) and vortex sheets as singular 2-forms with support of codimensions 2 and 1, respectively, i.e. singular elements of the dual to the Lie algebra of…
Topological solitons are knots in continuous physical fields classified by non-zero Hopf index values. Despite arising in theories that span many branches of physics, from elementary particles to condensed matter and cosmology, they remain…