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We use linear stability analysis to show that an isotropic phase of elongated particles with dipolar flow fields can develop nematic order as a result of their activity. We argue that ordering is favoured if the particles are flow-aligning…
Soft robotics requires materials that are capable of large deformation and amenable to actuation with external stimuli such as electric fields. Energy harvesting, biomedical devices, flexible electronics and sensors are some other…
The realization of a spontaneous macroscopic ferroelectric order in fluids of anisotropic mesogens is a topic of both fundamental and technological interest. Recently, we demonstrated that a system of dipolar achiral disklike ellipsoids can…
The distinctive characteristics of water, evident in its thermodynamic anomalies, have implications across disciplines from biology to geophysics. Considered a valid hypothesis to rationalize its unique properties, a liquid-liquid phase…
We describe electrophoresis of spherical dielectric particles in a uniformly aligned nematic medium with a negative dielectric anisotropy. A spherical particle that orients the liquid crystal (LC) perpendicularly to its surface moves under…
The macroscopic dielectric permittivity of dielectric crystals is related to the microscopic atomic polarizability of constituent atoms by the known Clausius-Mossotti relation obtained in the middle of 19th century. We derive a similar…
In a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal, the electrostatic interaction can induce a spontaneous cholesteric helix, even if the material is not chiral. If the liquid-crystal cell is infinitely thick, then the predicted pitch depends…
Ionic crystals, such as solid electrolytes and complex oxides, are central to modern technologies for energy storage, sensing, actuation, and other functional applications. An important fundamental issue in the atomic and quantum-scale…
Introducing structural and/or chemical heterogeneity into otherwise ordered crystals can dramatically alter material properties. Lead-based relaxor ferroelectrics are a prototypical example, with decades of investigation having connected…
We study the impact of nematic alignment on scalar active matter in the disordered phase. We show that nematic torques control the emergent physics of particles interacting via pairwise forces and can either induce or prevent phase…
Within the framework of continuum theory, we draw a parallel between ferromagnetic materials and nematic liquid crystals confined on curved surfaces, which are both characterized by local interaction and anchoring potentials. We show that…
Thanks to their unique properties, nematic liquid crystals feature a variety of mechanisms for light-matter interactions. For continuous-wave optical excitations, the two dominant contributions stem from reorientational and thermal…
How can a collection of motile cells, each generating contractile nematic stresses in isolation, become an extensile nematic at the tissue-level? Understanding this seemingly contradictory experimental observation, which occurs irrespective…
Non-chiral liquid crystals (LCs) exhibiting ferroelectricity, distinguished by their dynamic responsiveness to external stimuli and high spontaneous polarization, provide renewed impetus for research into this area of soft matter and open…
We show that stable, freely suspended liquid crystal films can be made from the ferroelectric nematic ($\mathrm{N_F}$) phase and from the recently discovered polar, lamellar $\mathrm{SmZ_A}$ and $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ phases. The $\mathrm{N_F}$…
We study the dynamical properties of active polar liquid crystalline films. Like active nematic films, active polar films undergo a dynamical transitions to spontaneously flowing steady-states. Spontaneous flow in polar fluids is, however,…
Pattern forming instabilities induced by ultralow frequency sinusoidal voltages were studied in a rod-like nematic liquid crystal by microscopic observations and simultaneous electric current measurements. Two pattern morphologies,…
We have structurally characterized the liquid crystal phase that appears as an intermediate state when a dielectric nematic, having polar disorder of its molecular dipoles, transitions to the almost perfectly polar-ordered ferroelectric…
A spontaneous buckling transition in thin layers of monodomain nematic liquid crystalline gel was observed by polarized light microscopy. The coupling between the orientational ordering of liquid crystalline solvent and the translational…
The transient negative capacitance (NC) of solid ferroelectric materials used in field effect transistors can reduce the power dissipation of electronics. Here we show that similar negative capacitance appears in the recently discovered…