Related papers: Topological defects in buckled colloidal monolayer…
We propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects with a topological charge. In a formal idealization,…
We comprehend the role of imperfections in materials consisting of interacting particles, arising from different origins on their universal features. Specifically, we report the static and dynamic responses in a cluster of Coulomb…
We study the conformation of a heterogeneous surfactant monolayer at a fluid-fluid interface, near a boundary between two lateral regions of differing elastic properties. The monolayer attains a conformation of shallow, steep `mesas' with a…
We theoretically study the topography of a biphasic surfactant monolayer in the vicinity of domain boundaries. The differing elastic properties of the two phases generally lead to a nonflat topography of ``mesas'', where domains of one…
The issue of the buckling mechanism in droplets stabilized by solid particles (armored droplets) is tackled at a mesoscopic level using dissipative particle dynamics simulations. We consider spherical water droplet in a decane solvent…
Topological defects in active liquid crystals can be confined by introducing gradients of activity. Here, we examine the dynamical behavior of two defects confined by a sharp gradient of activity that separates an active circular region and…
Changes in the geometry and topology of self-assembled membranes underlie diverse processes across cellular biology and engineering. Similar to lipid bilayers, monolayer colloidal membranes have in-plane fluid-like dynamics and out-of-plane…
Disclinations or disclination clusters in smectic C freely suspended films with topological charges larger than one are unstable. They disintegrate, preferably in a spatially symmetric fashion, into single defects with individual charges…
We study the mechanical buckling of a two dimensional membrane coated with a thin layer of superfluid. It is seen that a singularity (vortex or anti-vortex defect) in the phase of the quantum order parameter, distorts the membrane metric…
We propose that the spin glass phase of cuprates is due to the proliferation of topological defects of a spiral distortion of the antiferromagnet order. Our theory explains straightforwardly the simultaneous existence of short range…
Smectic liquid crystals are charcterized by layers that have a preferred uniform spacing and vanishing curvature in their ground state. Dislocations in the smectics play an important role in phase nucleation, layer reorientation, and…
Recent studies on confined crystals of charged colloidal particles are reviewed, both in equilibrium and out of equilibrium. We focus in particular on direct comparisons of experiments (light scattering and microscopy) with lattice sum…
Cloaking is a method of making obstacles undetectable. Here we cloak unit cells of a magnetic pattern squeezed into an otherwise periodic pattern from a magnetically driven colloidal flow. We apply a time-periodic external magnetic field…
(3+1)D topological phases of matter can host a broad class of non-trivial topological defects of codimension-1, 2, and 3, of which the well-known point charges and flux loops are special cases. The complete algebraic structure of these…
At sufficiently low temperatures and high densities, repulsive spherical particles in two-dimensions (2d) form close-packed structures with six-fold symmetry. By contrast, when the interparticle interaction has an attractive anisotropic…
The topological states of matters arising from the nontrivial magnetic configuration provide a better understanding of physical properties and functionalities of solid materials. Such studies benefit from the active control of spin…
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…
Topological protection ensures stability of information and particle transport against perturbations. We explore experimentally and computationally the topologically protected transport of magnetic colloids above spatially inhomogeneous…
Two dimensional suspensions of spherical colloids subject to periodic external fields exhibit a rich variety of molecular crystalline phases. We study in simulations the ground state configurations of dimeric and trimeric systems, that are…
Bundles of stiff filaments are ubiquitous in the living world, found both in the cytoskeleton and in the extracellular medium. These bundles are typically held together by smaller cross-linking molecules. We demonstrate analytically,…