Related papers: Nematic textures in spherical shells
We show that the relative stability of the nematic tetratic phase with respect to the usual uniaxial nematic phase can be greatly enhanced by clustering effects. Two--dimensional rectangles of aspect ratio $\kappa$ interacting via hard…
Several examples suggest the conjecture that the central aspect determining a monotonic evolution for perturbed highly symmetric thin-shells is the approximation adopted for their equations of state.
The emergence of new techniques for the fabrication of nematic droplets with nontrivial topology provides new routes for the assembly of responsive devices. Here we perform a numerical study of spherical nematic droplets on fibres. We…
A Self Consistent Field Theory description of equilibrium, but non uniform, configurations adopted by semi flexible liquid crystal molecules is presented. Two cases are considered, isotropic-nematic phase boundaries, and topological defects…
We study analytically the development of gravitational instability in an expanding shell having finite thickness. We consider three models for the radial density profile of the shell: (i) an analytic uniform-density model, (ii) a…
We study the properties of a system consisting of an uncharged spherically symmetric two dimensional extended object which encloses a stationary point charge placed in the shell's center. We show that there can be a static and stable…
We study the flat phase of nematic elastomer membranes with rotational symmetry spontaneously broken by in-plane nematic order. Such state is characterized by a vanishing elastic modulus for simple shear and soft transverse phonons. At…
We study the $\Gamma$-limit of 3d nonlinear elasticity for shells of small, variable thickness, around an arbitrary smooth 2d surface.
We examine the equilibrium configurations of a nematic liquid crystal with an immersed body in two-dimensions. A complex variables formulation provides a means for finding analytical solutions in the case of strong anchoring. Local…
A strained epitaxial film deposited on a deformable substrate undergoes a morphological instability relaxing the elastic energy by surface diffusion. The nonlinear and nonlocal dynamical equations of such films with wetting interactions are…
Topological defects are ubiquitous on surfaces with orientational order fields. Here, we study equilibrium states generated by the feedback between geometry and nematic order on fluid membranes with an integer topological defect. When the…
This review introduces the elasticity theory of two-dimensional crystals and nematic liquid crystals on curved surfaces, the energetics of topological defects (disclinations, dislocations and pleats) in these ordered phases, and the…
A nematic liquid crystal in contact with a grating surface possessing an alternating stripe pattern of locally homeotropic and planar anchoring is studied within the Frank--Oseen model. The combination of both chemical and geometrical…
We determine stability boundaries for the wrinkling of highly uni-directionally stretched, finely thin, rectangular elastic sheets. For a given fine thickness and length, a stability boundary here is a curve in the parameter plane, aspect…
We derive the effective energy density of thin membranes of liquid crystal elastomers as the Gamma-limit of a widely used bulk model. These membranes can display fine-scale features both due to wrinkling that one expects in thin elastic…
The stability of liquid crystal phases in presence of small amount of non-mesogenic impurities is of general interest for a large spectrum of technological applications and in the theories of binary mixtures. Starting from the known phase…
The thermodynamic model of ultrathin lubricant film melting, confined between two atomically-flat solid surfaces, is built using the Landau phase transition approach. Non-equilibrium entropy is introduced describing the part of thermal…
We consider thin spherical shells of matter in both Newtonian gravity and general relativity, and examine their equilibrium configurations and dynamical stability. Thin-shell models are admittedly a poor substitute for realistic stellar…
We study elasticity of spontaneously orientationally-ordered amorphous solids, characterized by a vanishing transverse shear modulus, as realized for example by nematic elastomers and gels. We show that local heterogeneities and elastic…
Using particle-resolved molecular-dynamics simulations, we compute the phase diagram for soft repulsive spherocylinders confined on the surface of a sphere. While crystal (K), smectic (Sm), and isotropic (I) phases exhibit a stability…