Related papers: Liquid crystals in two dimensions: First-order pha…
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…
We divide glass and viscous liquid sciences into two major research areas, the first dealing with how to avoid crystals and so access the viscous liquid state, and the second dealing with how liquids behave when no crystals form. We review…
We study effects of quantum fluctuations on two-dimensional $p+ip$ superfluids near resonance. In the standard paradigm, phase transitions between superfluids and zero density vacuum are continuous. When strong quantum fluctuations near…
We consider a Hamiltonian system made of $N$ classical particles moving in two dimensions, coupled via an {\it infinite-range interaction} gauged by a parameter $A$. This system shows a low energy phase with most of the particles trapped in…
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…
By means of Monte Carlo simulations, using finite size scaling and conformal transformations, evidences of a topological phase transition in liquid crystals in two dimensions are reported. A paramagnetic phase appears at high temperature…
Solitons in liquid crystals are spatially localised stable configuration of the liquid crystal orientational order parameter that exhibit emergent particle-like properties such as mutual interaction, translational motion and reconfigurable…
We investigate Isotropic - Nematic transition in liquid crystal elastomers employing non-Boltzmann Monte Carlo techniques. We consider a lattice model of a liquid elastomer and Selinger-Jeon-Ratna Hamiltonian which accounts for…
Many physical systems involve two types of orientational order, which are coupled together. For example, ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals have coupled polar and nematic order, and tilted hexatic phases have coupled polar and hexatic…
We revisit the phase structure and thermodynamics of QCD in the low temperature and high density region, where a strong, first-order phase transition is expected beyond the critical end point. By solving the quark gap equation in the…
Recent experimental results indicate that phosphorus, a single-component system, can have two liquid phases: a high-density liquid (HDL) and a low-density liquid (LDL) phase. A first-order transition between two liquids of different…
The concept of a vestigial nematic order emerging from a "mother" spin or charge density-wave state has been applied to describe the phase diagrams of several systems, including unconventional superconductors. In a perfectly clean system,…
First-order phase transitions occur through the nucleation of critical bubbles of the stable phase within the metastable phase. Using holography, we present a fully microscopic description of these bubbles in a strongly coupled,…
The transition from a nematic to an isotropic state in a self-closing spherical liquid crystal shell with tangential alignment is a stimulating phenomenon to investigate, as the topology dictates that the shell exhibits local isotropic…
Commensurability effects for nickelates have been studied by the first neutron experiments on La5/3Sr1/3NiO4. Upon cooling, this system undergoes three successive phase transitions associated with quasi-two-dimensional (2D) commensurate…
We show that order-parameter fluctuations in a good type-I superconductor or a liquid crystal always increase the size of the first-order transition. This behavior is eventually changed when the system crosses over to inverted-XY critical…
First principles molecular dynamics simulations reveal a liquid-liquid phase transition in supercooled elemental silicon. Two phases coexist below $T_c\approx 1232K$. The low density phase is nearly tetra-coordinated, with a pseudogap at…
Using molecular dynamics simulation we examine changeovers among crystal, glass, and liquid at high density in a two dimensional binary mixture. We change the ratio between the diameters of the two components and the temperature. The…
Classical phase transitions, like solid-liquid-gas or order-disorder spin magnetic phases, are all driven by thermal energy fluctuations by varying the temperature. On the other hand, quantum phase transitions happen at absolute zero…
A fluid in the NVT ensemble at T less than the critical temperature T_c and rho = N/V somewhat in excess of rho_coex (density of the saturated gas in the gas-liquid transition) is considered. For V->infinity, a macroscopic liquid droplet…