Related papers: Particle deformability stabilizes hexatic order an…
The selection of stacking order in a broad range of close-packed polymorphic materials remains a challenging enigma. Using in situ cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, we uncover the atomistic mechanisms governing the vapour…
The mechanical response of solids depends on temperature because the way atoms and molecules respond collectively to deformation is affected at various levels by thermal motion. This is a fundamental problem of solid state science and plays…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
We report the results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a complete monolayer of hexane physisorbed onto the basal plane of graphite. At low temperatures the system forms a herringbone solid. With increasing temperature, a solid to…
From hydrogels and plastics to liquid crystals, soft solids cover a wide array of synthetic and biological materials that play key enabling roles in advanced technologies such as 3D printing, soft robotics, wearable electronics,…
A theory of self-propelled particles is developed in two dimensions assuming that the particles can be deformed from a circular shape when the propagating velocity is increased. A coupled set of equations in terms of the velocity and a…
The mechanical behaviors of polycrystalline solids are determined by the interplay between phenomena governed by two different thermodynamic temperatures: the configurational effective temperature that controls the density of dislocations,…
We report results of computer simulations of two-dimensional hard disks confined within a quasi one-dimensional ``hard-wall'' channel, a few atomic radii wide. Starting from a commensurate triangular solid a rescaling of the system size…
Continuum models of plasticity fail to capture the richness of microstructural evolution because the continuum is a homogeneous construction. The present study shows that an alternative way is available at the mesoscale in the form of truly…
We examine the changeover in the particle configurations and the dynamics in dense Lennard-Jones binary mixtures composed of small and large particles. By varying the composition at a low temperature, we realize crystal with defects,…
Self-assembling novel ordered structures with nanoparticles has recently received much attention. Here we use computer simulations to study a two-dimensional model system characterized by a simple isotropic interaction that could be…
A mesoscopic system of a few particles exhibits behaviors that strongly differ from those of a macroscopic system. While in a macroscopic system phase transitions are universal, a change in the state of a mesoscopic system depends on its…
Employing the fracton-elastic duality, we develop a low-energy effective theory of a zero-temperature vortex crystal in a two-dimensional bosonic superfluid which naturally incorporates crystalline topological defects. We extract static…
The behaviour of two-dimensional patchy particles with 5 and 7 regularly-arranged patches is investigated by computer simulation. For higher pressures and wider patch widths, hexagonal crystals have the lowest enthalpy, whereas at lower…
In complex crystals close to melting or at finite temperatures, different types of defects are ubiquitous and their role becomes relevant in the mechanical response of these solids. Conventional elasticity theory fails to provide a…
Liquid crystals in two dimensions undergo a first-order isotropic-to-quasi-nematic transition, provided the particle interactions are sufficiently ``sharp and narrow''. This implies phase coexistence between isotropic and quasi-nematic…
Via numerical simulations and analytical calculations, depletion forces are studied in mixtures of small and big particles that interact via soft repulsive potentials. While big particles are spherical, small particles are nonspherical with…
Entropic contributions to the stability of solids are very well understood and the mixing entropy has been used for forming various solids, for instance such as inverse spinels. A particular development was related to high entropy alloys in…
Melting in 2D is described by the celebrated Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young (KTHNY) theory. The unbinding of two different types of topological defects destroys translational and orientational order at different temperatures. The…
Confined granular fluids, placed in a shallow box that is vibrated vertically, can achieve homogeneous stationary states thanks to energy injection mechanisms that take place throughout the system. These states can be stable even at high…