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A definition of structural diversity, adapted from the biodiversity literature, is introduced to provide a general characterization of structures of condensed matter. Using the Favored Local Structure (FLS) lattice model as a testbed, the…
Periodicity is usually assumed to be the necessary and sufficient condition for the formation of band gaps, i.e., energy bands with a suppressed density of states. Here, we check this premise by analyzing the band gap properties of three…
The structural properties of dense random packings of identical hard spheres (HS) are investigated. The bond order parameter method is used to obtain detailed information on the local structural properties of the system for different…
Due to the lack of long-range order, it remains challenging to characterize the structure of disordered solids and understand the nature of the glass transition. Here we propose a new structural order parameter by taking into account…
Crystals are paradigms of ordered structures. While order was once seen as synonymous with lattice periodic arrangements, the discoveries of incommensurate crystals and quasicrystals led to a more general perception of crystalline order,…
Why are materials with specific characteristics more abundant than others? This is a fundamental question in materials science and one that is traditionally difficult to tackle, given the vastness of compositional and configurational space.…
Protein structures in nature often exhibit a high degree of regularity (secondary structures, tertiary symmetries, etc.) absent in random compact conformations. We demonstrate in a simple lattice model of protein folding that structural…
The formation of self-organized patterns and localized states are ubiquitous in Nature. Localized states containing trivial symmetries such as stripes, hexagons, or squares have been profusely studied. Disordered patterns with non-trivial…
Architected materials achieve unique mechanical properties through precisely engineered microstructures that minimize material usage. However, a key challenge of low-density materials is balancing high stiffness with stable deformability up…
The effect of strong confinement on the positional and orientational ordering is examined in a system of hard rectangular rods with length L and diameter D (L>D) using the Parsons-Lee modification of the second virial density functional…
We consider partially ordered sets of combinatorial structures under consecutive orders, meaning that two structures are related when one embeds in the other such that `consecutive' elements remain consecutive in the image. Given such a…
Self-assembly processes are widespread in nature, and lie at the heart of many biological and physical phenomena. The characteristics of self-assembly building blocks determine the structures that they form. Two crucial properties are the…
The fundamental principles underlying the arrangement of elements into solid compounds with an enormous variety of crystal structures are still largely unknown. This study presents a general overview of the structure types appearing in an…
We investigate ordering properties of two-dimensional granular materials using several shapes created by welding ball bearings together. Ordered domains form much more easily in two than in three dimensions, even when configurations lack…
We show the existence of rigid combinatorial objects which previously were not known to exist. Specifically, for a wide range of the underlying parameters, we show the existence of non-trivial orthogonal arrays, $t$-designs, and $t$-wise…
Two classes of non-linear elastic materials are derived via two-dimensional homogenization. These materials are equivalent to a periodic grid of axially-deformable and axially-preloaded structural elements, subject to incremental…
Disordered systems like liquids, gels, glasses, or granular materials are not only ubiquitous in daily life and in industrial applications but they are also crucial for the mechanical stability of cells or the transport of chemical and…
Characterization of medium-range order in amorphous materials and its relation to short-range order is discussed. A new topological approach is presented here to extract a hierarchical structure of amorphous materials, which is robust…
Amorphous grain boundary complexions lack long-range crystalline order but are not featureless, as distinct gradients in structural short-range order have been reported through their thickness. In this work, we test the hypothesis that the…
The world of two-dimensional crystals is of great significance for the design and study of structural and functional materials with novel properties. The world of two-dimensional crystals is of great significance for the design and study of…