Related papers: Polymer Braids and Iterated Moire Maps
Using self-consistent field and density-functional theories, we first investigate colloidal self-assembling of colloid/polymer films confined between two soft surfaces grafted by polymers. With the increase of colloidal concentrations, the…
We study a liquid of zigzagging two-dimensional directed polymers with bending rigidity, i.e., polymers whose conformations follow checkerboard paths. In the continuum limit the statistics of such polymers obey the Dirac equation for…
Colloidal and other granular media experience a transition to rigidity known as jamming if the fill fraction is increased beyond a critical value. The resulting jammed structures are locally disordered, bear applied loads inhomogenously,…
A coarse-grained model to describe the lateral structure of a one-component polymer brush is presented. In this model, a single polymer chain is described by just two coordinates, namely the position of the grafted monomer, and the monomer…
Transport of a moving V-shaped barrier exposed to a bath of chiral active particles is investigated in a two-dimensional channel. Due to the chirality of active particles and the transversal asymmetry of the barrier position, active…
Twisted two-dimensional (2D) layered materials exhibit many novel and unique phenomena, such as insulation and superconductivity transition, and superlubricity. However, the effect of twisting on these phenomena remains unclear. A key…
When a dilute polymer solution experiences capillary thinning, it forms an almost uniformly cylindrical thread, which we study experimentally. In the last stages of thinning, when polymers have become fully stretched, the filament becomes…
The spontaneous emergence of chirality in crystalline solids has profound implications for electronic, optical, and topological properties, making the control of chiral phases a central challenge in materials design. Here, we investigate…
The orientational order in vertically agitated granular rod monolayers is investigated experimentally and compared quantitatively with equilibrium Monte Carlo simulations and density functional theory. At sufficiently high number density,…
Moir\'e network formation in graphene bilayers breaks stacking symmetry, giving rise to domain walls that host topologically protected one-dimensional states. Here we show that these systems undergo an additional symmetry breaking at the…
Fluid transport in microfluidic systems typically is laminar due to the low Reynolds number characteristic of the flow. The inclusion of suspended polymers imparts elasticity to fluids, allowing instabilities to be excited when substantial…
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study a unique expanded jammed state. Tension transforms many glassy polymers from a dense glass to a network of fibrils and voids called a craze. Entanglements between polymers and interchain…
Thin surfaces are ubiquitous in nature, from leaves to cell membranes, and in technology, from paper to corrugated containers. Structural thinness imbues them with flexibility, the ability to easily bend under light loads, even as their…
Natural materials often feature a combination of soft and stiff phases, arranged to achieve excellent mechanical properties, such as high strength and toughness. Many natural materials have even independently evolved to have similar…
We develop the theory of the coupling between in-plane order and out-of-plane geometry in twisted, two-dimensionally ordered filament bundles based on the non-linear continuum elasticity theory of columnar materials. We show that twisted…
We argue that spin and valley-polarized metallic phases recently observed in graphene bilayers and trilayers support chiral edge modes that allow spin waves to propagate ballistically along system boundaries without backscattering. The…
Random packings of granular chains are presented as a model polymer system to investigate the contribution of entanglements to strain-stiffening in the absence of Brownian motion. The chain packings are sheared in triaxial compression…
We investigate experimentally the distribution of configurations of a ring with an elementary topological constraint, a ``figure-8'' twist. Using vibrated granular chains, which permit controlled preparation and direct observation of such a…
Granular materials react to shear stresses differently than do ordinary fluids. Rather than deforming uniformly, materials such as dry sand or cohesionless powders develop shear bands: narrow zones containing large relative particle motion…
The work in this article is inspired by a classical problem: the statistical physical properties of a closed polymer loop that is wound around a rod. Historically the preserved topology of this system has been addressed through…