Related papers: Defect generation and deconfinement on corrugated …

By resorting to some results in quantum field theories with spontaneous breakdown of symmetry we show that an explanation based on microscopic dynamics can be given of the fact that topological defect formation is observed during the…

The study of topology in solids is undergoing a renaissance following renewed interest in the properties of ferroic domain walls as well as recent discoveries regarding topological insulators and skyrmionic lattices. Each of these systems…

Turbulent mixing and entrainment at the boundary of a cloud is studied by means of direct numerical simulations that couple the Eulerian description of the turbulent velocity and water vapor fields with a Lagrangian ensemble of cloud water…

Topological disclinations, crystallographic defects that break rotation lattice symmetry, have attracted great interest and exhibited wide applications in cavities, waveguides, and lasers. However, topological disclinations have thus far…

Liquid crystals inevitably possess topological defect excitations generated through boundary conditions, applied fields or in quenches to the ordered phase. In equilibrium pairs of defects coarsen and annihilate as the uniform ground state…

How topological defects affect the dynamics of particles hopping between lattice sites of a distorted, two-dimensional crystal is addressed. Perturbation theory and numerical simulations show that weak, short-ranged topological disorder…

When colloidal particles are vertically confined to a gap of between 1.3-1.6 particle diameters, they pack into buckled crystals of particles in either "up" or "down" states. Neighboring particles tend to occupy opposite states, analogous…

The mass and size distributions are the key characteristics of any astrophysical objects, including the densest clumps comprising the cold phase of multiphase environments. In our recent papers, we showed how individual clouds of various…

We present a continuum model describing dissolution and growth of a crystal contact confined against a substrate. Diffusion and hydrodynamics in the liquid film separating the crystal and the substrate are modeled within the lubrication…

We investigate the asymmetric freezing of a liquid droplet sliding on an inclined cold surface using numerical simulations based on the lubrication approximation. The combined effects of gravity, capillarity, and solidification kinetics on…

We revisit the delamination of a solid adhesive sheet under uniaxial compression from a flat, rigid substrate. Using energetic considerations and scaling arguments we show that the phenomenology is governed by three dimensionless groups,…

In addition to novel surface states, topological insulators can also exhibit robust gapless states at crystalline defects. Step edges constitute a class of common defects on the surface of crystals. In this work we establish the topological…

Statistics and thermally activated dynamics of crack nucleation and propagation in a two-dimensional heterogeneous material containing quenched randomly distributed defects are studied theoretically. Using the generalized Griffith criterion…

Harnessing a model from composite materials science, we show how point-like cusped surface features arise as quasi-particle excitations, termed "ghost fibers", on the surface of a homogeneous soft elastic material. These deformations appear…

Condensed water on vertical surfaces ultimately leaves the substrate at the lower edge, where accumulated liquid detaches as drops. While droplet growth and surface transport have been extensively studied, this final release step remains…

We experimentally investigate the nature of 2D phase transitions in a quasi-2D granular fluid. Using a surface decorated with periodically spaced dimples we observe interfacial tension between coexisting liquid and crystal phases.…

The presence of defects such as vacancies in solids has prominent effects on their mechanical properties. It not only modifies the stiffness and strength of materials, but also changes their morphologies. The latter effect is extremely…

We generalize, and then use, a recently introduced formalism to study thermal fluctuations of atomic displacements in several two and three dimensional crystals. We study both close packed as well as open crystals with multi atom bases.…

Stable array of point defects was generated in nematic liquid crystal. Point defects with topological charge of +1 and -1 (hedgehogs) were generated in vertically aligned liquid crystal cell. The hedgehogs were arranged in square or…

We study avenues to shape multistability and shape-morphing in flexible crystalline membranes of cylindrical topology, enabled by glide mobility of dislocations. Using computational modeling, we obtain states of mechanical equilibrium…