Related papers: Ordering and Melting in Colloidal Molecular Crysta…

We have performed Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the temperature dependence of the ordering of the side chains of the X-shape liquid crystal molecules which are arranged in a hexagonal array. Each hexagon contains six side chains,…

The interplay between order and geometry in soft condensed matter systems is an active field with many striking results and even more open problems. Ordered structures on curved surfaces appear in multi-electron helium bubbles, viral and…

We report the discovery of a mixed orientational structure in the quasi-one-dimensional fluid of hard non-spherical bodies with the exact calculation of the thermodynamic and structural quantities using the transfer operator method. The…

We investigate crystal nucleation in supersaturated colloid suspensions using enhanced molecular dynamics simulations augmented with machine learning techniques. The simulations reveal that crystallization in the model colloidal system…

Crystals form regular and robust structures that under extreme conditions can melt and recrystallize into different arrangements in a process that is called crystal metamorphism. While crystals exist due to the breaking of a continuous…

Using continuum based simulations we show that a rich variety of skyrmion liquid crystal states can be realized in the presence of a periodic obstacle array. As a function of the number of skyrmions per obstacle we find hexagonal, square,…

When short-range attractions are combined with long-range repulsions in colloidal particle systems, complex microphases can emerge. Here, we study a system of isotropic particles which can form lamellar structures or a disordered fluid…

Using a coarse molecular-dynamics (CMD) approach with an appropriate choice of coarse variable (order parameter), we map the underlying effective free-energy landscape for the melting of a crystalline solid. Implementation of this approach…

Quantum fluctuations in frustrated systems can lead to the emergence of complex many-body phases. However, the role of quantum fluctuations in frustration-free lattices is less explored and could provide an interesting avenue for exploring…

Crystallization often proceeds through successive stages that lead to a gradual increase in organization. Using molecular simulation, we determine the nucleation pathway for solid solutions of copper and gold. We identify a new nucleation…

The melting transition of a system of hard cubes is studied numerically both in the case of freely rotating cubes and when there is a fixed orientation of the particles (parallel cubes). It is shown that freelly rotating cubes melt through…

Isomerization, i.e. the rearrangement between distinct molecular configurations, is a fundamental process in chemistry. Here we demonstrate that two-dimensional Coulomb crystals can emulate molecular isomerization and be used to…

Using numerical simulations we examine colloids with a long-range Coulomb interaction confined in a two-dimensional trough potential undergoing dynamical compression. As the depth of the confining well is increased, the colloids move via…

A single crystalline system typically stabilizes a unique state for spin ordering below a critical temperature. Certain materials exhibit multiple magnetic states, driven by structural phase transitions under varying thermodynamic…

Liquid mixtures composed of colloidal particles and much smaller non-adsorbing linear homopolymers can undergo a gelation transition due to polymer-mediated depletion forces. We now show that the addition of linear polymers to suspensions…

There are three kinds of solid states of matter that can exist in physical space: quasicrystalline (quasiperiodic), crystalline (periodic) and amorphous (aperiodic). Herein, we consider the degree of orientational order that develops upon…

At low temperatures, colloidal particles with short-range attractive and long-range repulsive interactions can form various periodic microphases in bulk.In this paper, we investigate the self-assembly behaviour of colloids with competing…

Depending on the volume fraction and interparticle interactions, colloidal suspensions can form different phases, ranging from fluids, crystals, and glasses to gels. For soft microgels that are made from thermoresponsive polymers, the…

Colloids self-assemble into various organized superstructures determined by particle interactions. There is a tremendous progress in both the scientific understanding and applications of self-assemblies of single-type identical particles.…

For particles confined to two dimensions, any curvature of the surface affects the structural, kinetic and thermodynamic properties of the system. If the curvature is non-uniform, an even richer range of behaviours can emerge. Using a…