Related papers: Topology and Nematic Ordering II: Observable Criti…
We find a series of topological phase transitions of increasing order, beyond the more standard second-order phase transition in a one-dimensional topological superconductor. The jumps in the order of the transitions depend on the range of…
Motivated by the search for quantum liquid crystal phases in a gas of ultracold atoms and molecules, we study the density wave and nematic instabilities of dipolar fermions on the two-dimensional square lattice (in the $x-y$ plane) with…
We have performed a systematic study of the phase transition in the pure compact U(1) lattice gauge theory in the extended coupling parameter space (\beta, \gamma) on toroidal and spherical lattices. The observation of a non-zero latent…
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…
Topological order characterizes those phases of matter that defy a description in terms of symmetry and cannot be distinguished in terms local order parameters. This type of order plays a key role in the theory of the fractional quantum…
X-ray scattering and polarized microscopic studies of the structure and order parameters in the nematic (N) and heliconical, or the twist-bend nematic (Ntb), phase have been performed as a function of temperature. The nematic orientational…
We comment on some recent, yet unpublished results concerning instabilities in complex systems and their applications. In particular, we briefly describe main observations during extensive computer simulations of two lattice nonequilibrium…
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…
A nematic liquid crystal confined to the surface of a sphere exhibits topological defects of total charge $+2$ due to the topological constraint. In equilibrium, the nematic field forms four $+1/2$ defects, located at the corners of a…
We present a model to describe complex phases observed at mesoscopic scales in ultrathin magnetic films. The model is based on the interaction between dipolar as well as quadrupolar magnetic moments. In the special case of strong…
The twist-bend nematic (Ntb) phase is a recent addition to the nematic (N) phases of liquid crystals (LCs). A net polar order in the Ntb phase under an external electric field was predicted in several recent theoretical studies but yet to…
The emergence of complex modulated structures in the magnetization pattern of thin films is a well-established experimental phenomenology caused by the frustrating effects of competing interactions. Using a coarse-grained version of the…
We report the observation of the transition from an ordered solid-like phase to a disordered liquid-like phase of a lattice of spikes on a ferrofluid surface submitted to horizontal sinusoidal vibrations. The melting transition occurs for a…
We investigate the finite-temperature phase diagram of the classical Kitaev-Heisenberg model on the hexagonal lattice. Due to the anisotropy introduced by the Kitaev interaction, the model is magnetically ordered at low temperatures for all…
Nematicity plays an important role in strongly correlated electron systems. We explore the spin nematicity of a spin-1 kagome lattice antiferromagnet with the bilinear-biquadratic model and single-ion anisotropy using a generalized…
We report on the discovery of a quantum tri-critical point (QTP) separating a line of first-order topological quantum phase transitions from a continuous transition regime in a strongly correlated one-dimensional lattice system.…
Electronic nematicity, proposed to exist in a number of transition metal materials, can have different microscopic origins. In particular, the anisotropic resistivity and meta-magnetic jumps observed in Sr3Ru2O7 are consistent with an…
Geometrical approach to the phenomenological theory of phase transitions of the second kind at constant pressure $P$ and variable temperature $T$ is proposed. Equilibrium states of a system at zero external field and fixed $P$ and $T$ are…
The ferroelectric nematic phase (N$_{\text{F}}$) has quickly become the most studied system in liquid crystal research. In this work, we investigate the origin of such polar structure by studying a compound for which the N$_{\text{F}}$…
The spin-liquid candidate $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)$_{2}$Cu$_{2}$(CN)$_{3}$ has been studied by measuring the uniaxial expansion coefficients $\alpha_{i}$, the specific heat, and magnetic susceptibility. Special emphasis was placed on the…