Related papers: Boundary-roughness effects in nematic liquid cryst…
Optical birefringence measurements on a rod-like liquid crystal (8OCB), imbibed in silica channels (7 nm diameter), are presented and compared to the thermotropic bulk behavior. The orientational and positional order of the confined liquid…
We present experimental and theoretical results for the surface topography of a plastically deformed metallic (aluminum) block. When a hard spherical body (here a steel-, silica glass- or silicon nitride ball) with a smooth surface is…
Nematic colloids exhibit a large diversity of topological defects and structures induced by colloidal particles in the orientationally ordered liquid crystal host fluids. These defects and field configurations define elastic interactions…
We investigate the dynamics of active nematic liquid crystals on deformable membranes, focusing on the interplay between active stress and anisotropic curvature coupling. Using a minimal model, we simulate the coupled evolution of the…
Using molecular dynamics calculations and the Voronoi tessellation, we study the evolution of the local structure of a soft-sphere glass versus temperature starting from the liquid phase at different quenching rates. This study is done for…
The confinement of liquid crystals inside curved geometries leads to exotic structures, with applications ranging from bio-sensors to optical switches and privacy windows. Here we study how curvature affects the alignment of a cholesteric…
We introduce a new class of non-isothermal models describing the evolution of nematic liquid crystals and prove their consistency with the fundamental laws of classical Thermodynamics. The resulting system of equations captures all…
Using density-functional theory in the restricted-orientation approximation, we analyse the liquid-crystal patterns and phase behaviour of a fluid of hard rectangular particles confined in a two-dimensional square nanocavity of side length…
The human tear film (TF) is thin multilayer fluid film that is critical for clear vision and ocular surface health. Its dynamics are strongly affected by a floating lipid layer and, in health, that layer slows evaporation and helps create a…
The effect of random surface roughness on hydrodynamics of viscous incompressible liquid is discussed. Roughness-driven contributions to hydrodynamic flows, energy dissipation, and friction force are calculated in a wide range of…
We expose the theoretical mechanisms underlying disorder-induced nematicity in systems exhibiting strong fluctuations or ordering in the nematic channel. Our analysis consists of a symmetry-based Ginzburg-Landau approach and associated…
Curved particles have been shown to stabilize a range of states with unique order in dense suspensions of colloidal bent core liquid crystals. The shape of the colloidal rods encourages the formation of curved director fields. However,…
The influence of controlable parameters like temperature and wavelength on the trajectories of light in a nematic liquid crystal with topological defects is studied through a geometric model. The model incorporates phenomenological details…
We present an extensive but concise review of our present understanding, largely based on theory and simulation work from our group, on the equilibrium behavior of solid surfaces and nanosystems close to the bulk melting point. In the first…
We investigate by means of continuum percolation theory and Monte Carlo simulations how spontaneous uniaxial symmetry breaking affects geometric percolation in dispersions of hard rod-like particles. If the particle aspect ratio exceeds…
Living materials at different length scales manifest active nematic features such as orientational order, nematic topological defects, and active nematic turbulence. Using numerical simulations we investigate the impact of fluid inertia on…
A continuum theory is employed to numerically study the equilibrium orientation and defect structures of a circular cylindrical particle with flat ends under a homeotropic anchoring condition in a uniform nematic medium. Different aspect…
Confining a liquid crystal imposes topological constraints on the orientational order, allowing global control of equilibrium systems by manipulation of anchoring boundary conditions. In this article, we investigate whether a similar…
It has been conjectured that roughness plays a role in surface nucleation, the tendency for freezing to begin preferentially at the liquid-gas interface. Using high speed imaging, we sought evidence for freezing at the contact line on…
We point out how geometric features affect the scaling properties of non-equilibrium dynamic processes, by a model for surface growth where particles can deposit and evaporate only in dimer form, but dissociate on the surface. Pinning…