Related papers: Spontaneous helix formation in polar smectic phase
We consider crystal formation of particles with dipole-dipole interactions that are confined to move in a one-dimensional helical geometry with their dipole moments oriented along the symmetry axis of the confining helix. The stable…
Polarization flutter, produced by an applied AC electric field drives an equilibrium ferroelectric nematic ($\mathrm{N_F}$) liquid crystal (LC) through a transition into a dissipative active ferroelectric nematic state exhibiting strong…
Generic interactions e.g. the Coulomb or other long ranged radially symmetric repulsive interactions between monomers of bead-spring model of a semi-flexible polymer induce instabilities in a initially straight polymer chain to form long…
The shape of the building blocks plays a crucial role in directing self-assembly towards desired architectures. Out of the many different shapes, helix has a unique position. Helical structures are ubiquitous in nature and a helical shape…
By means of extensive replica-exchange simulations of generic coarse-grained models for helical polymers, we systematically investigate the structural transitions into all possible helical phases for flexible and semiflexible elastic…
Motivated by the search for quantum liquid crystal phases in a gas of ultracold atoms and molecules, we study the density wave and nematic instabilities of dipolar fermions on the two-dimensional square lattice (in the $x-y$ plane) with…
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,…
The recently discovered twist-bend nematic phase, $\rm N_{tb}$, is a non-uniform equilibrium nematic phase that presents a spontaneous bend with a precession of the nematic director, $\textbf{n}$, on a conical helix with a tilt angle…
Stiff, elongated biomolecules such as filamentous viruses, DNA or cellulose nanocrystals are known to form liquid crystals often exhibiting a helical supramolecular organization. Little is known about the microscopic origin, size and…
We show that surface interactions can vectorially structure the three-dimensional polariza-tion field of a ferroelectric fluid. The contact between a ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal and a surface with in-plane polarity generates a…
In order to understand the possible sequence of transitions from the disordered columnar phase to the helical phase in hexa(hexylthio)triphenylene (HHTT), we study a three-dimensional planar model with octupolar interactions inscribed on a…
A significant effort in condensed matter physics is dedicated to the search for exotic arrangements of electric dipoles in crystals. Non-collinear dipolar arrangements mimicking magnetic spin textures, such as polar vortices and skyrmions,…
Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are formed by achiral molecules with large dipole moments. Its three-dimensional orientational order is universally described as unidirectionally polar. We demonstrate that the ground state of…
The nanostructure of two novel sulfur containing dimer materials has been investigated experimentally by hard and by resonant tender X-ray scattering techniques. On cooling the dimers through the nematic to twist-bend nematic (N-NTB) phase…
Based on micromagnetic simulations, we report on a novel helical magnetic structure in a soft magnetic film that is sandwiched between and exchange-coupled to two hard magnetic layers. Confined between antiparallel hard magnetic moments, a…
A number of highly polar three ring rod-shaped compounds with a terminal thiophene ring have been synthesized and the physical properties of a subset are reported in detail. On cooling from the isotropic fluid, they directly transition to a…
Topological electric quadrupole is a recently proposed concept that extends the theory of electric polarization of crystals to higher orders. Such a quadrupole phase supports topological states localized on both edges and corners. In this…
In twist-bend nematic (N\textsubscript{TB}) liquid crystals (LCs), the mean molecular orientation exhibits heliconical structure with nanoscale periodicity. On the mesoscopic scale, N\textsubscript{TB} resembles layered systems (like…
A flux liquid can condense into a smectic crystal in a pure layered superconductor with the magnetic field oriented nearly parallel to the layers. Similar order can arise in low temperature $^4$He films with a highly anisotropic periodic…
We demonstrate an exceptional ability of a high-polarisation 3D ferroelectric liquid to form freely-suspended fluid fibres at room temperature. Unlike fluid threads in modulated smectics and columnar phases, where translational order is a…