Related papers: Escape into the Third Dimension in Cholesteric Liq…
This article offers a comprehensive survey of results obtained for solitons and complex nonlinear wave patterns supported by purely nonlinear lattices (NLs), which represent a spatially periodic modulation of the local strength and sign of…
Frustrated systems, typically characterized by competing interactions that cannot all be simultaneously satisfied, display rich behaviours not found elsewhere in nature. Artificial spin ice takes a materials-by-design approach to studying…
Topological states can be used to control the mechanical properties of a material along an edge or around a localized defect. The surface rigidity of elastic networks is characterized by a bulk topological invariant called the polarization;…
We simulate colloids (radius $R \sim 1\mu$m) trapped at the interface between a cholesteric liquid crystal and an immiscible oil, at which the helical order (pitch p) in the bulk conflicts with the orientation induced at the interface,…
We study dynamical processes in a multi-domain (MD) structured nematic liquid crystal cell with a particular emphasis on the motion, creation and annihilation of disclinations. In the MD cell right- and left-handed director helices…
Microscopic symmetries impose strong constraints on the elasticity of a crystalline solid. In addition to the usual spatial symmetries captured by the tensorial character of the elastic tensor, hidden non-spatial symmetries can occur…
We study avenues to shape multistability and shape-morphing in flexible crystalline membranes of cylindrical topology, enabled by glide mobility of dislocations. Using computational modeling, we obtain states of mechanical equilibrium…
Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked elastomer networks with liquid crystal mesogens incorporated into the main or side chain. Polydomain liquid crystalline (nematic) elastomers exhibit unusual mechanical properties like soft…
Columnar crystals contain defects in the form of vacancy/interstitial loops or strings of vacancies and interstitials bounded by column ``heads'' and ``tails''. These defect strings are oriented by the columnar lattice and can change size…
The translational order in a three-dimensional lattice pinned by hopping defects is studied. It is suggested that the equilibrium state of the lattice crosses from a glass to a crystal on the rate of hopping. It is argued that such a…
We describe the basic properties and consequences of introducing active stresses, with principal direction along the local director, in cholesteric liquid crystals. The helical ground state is found to be linearly unstable to extensile…
Topological defects (including disclinations and dislocations) which commonly exist in various materials have shown an amazing ability to produce excellent mechanical and physical properties of matters. In this paper, disclinations and…
Assume a lower-dimensional solitonic structure embedded in a higher dimensional space, e.g., a 1D dark soliton embedded in 2D space, a ring dark soliton in 2D space, a spherical shell soliton in 3D space etc. By extending the Landau…
We study the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in three dimensions, with focus on the nonlinear structure and evolution that results from different initial field configurations. We study strong fields in the sense that the critical…
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…
When a thin sheet is crushed into a small three-dimensional volume, it invariably forms a structure with a low volume fraction but high resistance to further compression. Being a far-from-equilibrium process, forced crumpling is not…
Colloidal systems find important applications ranging from fabrication of photonic crystals to direct probing of phenomena typically encountered in atomic crystals and glasses. New applications - such as nanoantennas, plasmonic sensors, and…
Topological phases of matter have been extensively studied for their intriguing bulk and edge properties. Recently, higher-order topological insulators with boundary states that are two or more dimensions lower than the bulk states, have…
We show that highly twisted minimal strips can undergo a non-singular transition, unlike the singular transitions seen in the M\"obius strip and the catenoid. If the strip is non-orientable this transition is topologically frustrated, and…
When a nematic liquid crystal is confined in a porous medium with strong anchoring conditions, topological defects, called disclinations, are stably formed with numerous possible configurations. Since the energy barriers between them are…