Related papers: Topological kicks enhance colloidal diffusivity in…
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…
We propose an agent-based model of active flexible rods. Inspired by cytoskeletal flows, we introduce activity by an internal flow that contributes to the dissipative forces. The active force between our agents is central and reciprocal,…
We report numerical results for the hydrodynamics of inhomogeneous lyotropic and extensile active nematic gels. By simulating the coupled Cahn-Hilliard, Navier-Stokes, and Beris-Edwards equation for the evolution of the composition, flow…
Topological defects, which are singular points in a director field, play a major role in shaping active systems. Here, we experimentally study topological defects and the flow patterns around them, that are formed during the highly rapid…
Confining a liquid crystal imposes topological constraints on the orientational order, allowing global control of equilibrium systems by manipulation of anchoring boundary conditions. In this article, we investigate whether a similar…
Active matter encompasses different nonequilibrium systems in which individual constituents convert energy into non-conservative forces or motion at the microscale. This review provides an elementary introduction to the role of topology in…
While studies of active nematics in two dimensions have shed light on various aspects of the flow regimes and topology of active matter, three-dimensional properties of topological defects and chaotic flows remain unexplored. By confining a…
We develop an approximate, analytical model for the velocity of defects in active nematics by combining recent results for the velocity of topological defects in nematic liquid crystals with the flow field generated from individual defects…
In this work, we report a direct measurement of the forces exerted by a tubulin/kinesin active nematic gel as well as its complete rheological characterization, including the quantification of its shear viscosity, {\eta}, and its activity…
The transport properties of colloidal particles in active liquids have been studied extensively. It has led to a deeper understanding of the interactions between passive and active particles. However, the phase behavior of colloidal…
A major challenge in the study of active systems is to harness their non-equilibrium dynamics into useful work. We address this by showing how to design colloids with controllable spontaneous propulsion or rotation when immersed in active…
Active fluids comprise a variety of systems composed of elements immersed in a fluid environment which can convert some form of energy into directed motion; as such they are intrinsically out-of-equilibrium in the absence of any external…
The dispersion of a passive colloid immersed in a bath of non-interacting and non-Brownian run-and-tumble microswimmers in two dimensions is analyzed using stochastic simulations and an asymptotic theory, both based on a minimal model of…
Topology can manifest itself in colloids when quantified by invariants like Euler characteristics of nonzero-genus colloidal surfaces, albeit spherical colloidal particles are most often studied, and colloidal particles with complex…
Nonequilibrium active polymers provide a minimal framework to investigate biopolymers such as DNA and chromatin under the action of molecular motors. Here we study active ring polymers with controlled topology and show that knot type…
Mechanical properties of disordered materials are governed by their underlying free energy landscape. In contrast to external fields, embedding a small fraction of active particles within a disordered material generates non-equilibrium…
The flow properties of a continuum model for an active nematic is studied and compared with recent experiments on suspensions of microtubule bundles and molecular motors. The velocity correlation length is found to be independent of the…
Phase transitions and collective dynamics of active colloidal suspensions are fascinating topics in soft matter physics, particularly for out-of-equilibrium systems, which can lead to rich rheological behaviours in the presence of steady…
We study the topological configurations and dynamics of individual point defect vacancies and interstitials in a two-dimensional colloidal crystal. Our Brownian dynamics simulations show that the diffusion mechanism for vacancy defects…
We exploit the long-ranged elastic fields inherent to confined nematic liquid crystals to assemble colloidal particles trapped at the liquid crystal interface into reconfigurable structures with complex symmetries and packings. Spherical…