Related papers: Defect absorption and emission for $p$-atic liquid…
This contribution is intended for Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical Special issue on Non-equilibrium Dynamics in Complex Systems: Celebrating the Contributions of Uwe T\"{a}uber on his 60th Birthday. Cones with…
Geometry and topology play a fundamental role in determining pattern formation on 2D surfaces in condensed matter physics. For example, local positive Gaussian curvature of a 2D surface attracts positive topological defects in a liquid…
Using the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, we present a general description of topological defects dynamics in $p$-atic materials on curved surfaces, and simplify it in the case of active nematics. We find that activity induces a geometric…
Inspired by epithelial morphogenesis, we consider a minimal model for the shaping of a surface driven by $p$-atic topological defects. We show that a positive (negative) defect can dynamically generate a (hyperbolic) cone whose shape…
A growing or shrinking disc will adopt a conical shape, its intrinsic geometry characterized by a surplus angle $se$ at the apex. If growth is slow, the cone will find its equilibrium. Whereas this is trivial if $se <= 0$, the disc can fold…
We study the relationship between topological defect formation and ground-state packings in a model of repulsions in external confining potentials. Specifically we consider screened 2D Coulombic repulsions, which conveniently parameterizes…
To enhance the understanding of the behavior of active nematic, it is important to understand the behavior of topological defects. In this paper, we study the configuration of topological defects of a two-dimensional active nematic around a…
Topological defects are ubiquitous on surfaces with orientational order fields. Here, we study equilibrium states generated by the feedback between geometry and nematic order on fluid membranes with an integer topological defect. When the…
Topological defects are a conspicuous feature of active liquid crystals that have been associated with important morphogenetic transitions in organismal development. Robust development thus requires a tight control of the motion and…
We investigate a counterintuitive geometric interaction between defects and curvature in thin layers of superfluids, superconductors and liquid crystals deposited on curved surfaces. Each defect feels a geometric potential whose functional…
Topological defects are one of the most conspicuous features of liquid crystals. In two dimensional nematics, they have been shown to behave effectively as particles with both, charge and orientation, which dictate their interactions. Here,…
Using computer simulations we investigate the microscopic structure of the singular director field within a nematic droplet. As a theoretical model for nematic liquid crystals we take hard spherocylinders. To induce an overall topological…
We investigate numerically and analytically the effects of hydrodynamics on the dynamics of topological defects in $p-$atic liquid crystals, i.e. two-dimensional liquid crystals with $p-$fold rotational symmetry. Importantly, we find that…
We study the structure and elastic energy of the ground states of crystalline caps conforming to a spherical surface. These ground states consist of positive disclination defects in structures spanning from flat and weakly curved crystals…
Periodic boundary conditions are a common theoretical and computational tool used to emulate effectively infinite domains. However, two-dimensional periodic domains are topologically distinct from the infinite plane, eliciting the question:…
Characterizing the complex spectrum of topological defects in ground states of curved crystals is a long-standing problem with wide implications, from the mathematical Thomson problem to diverse physical realizations, including fullerenes…
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…
Atomic-size vortex beams have great potential in probing materials' magnetic moment at atomic scales. However, the limited depth of field of vortex beams constrains the probing depth in which the helical phase front is preserved. On the…
We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…
We investigate topography-driven generation of defects in liquid crystals films coating frozen surfaces of spatially varying Gaussian curvature whose topology does not automatically require defects in the ground state. We study in…