Related papers: Disorder-Induced Topological Defects in a d=2 Elas…

We present a non-perturbative formalism for measuring defect free energies (monopole mass or vortex tension) in three-dimensional SU(2)+adjoint Higgs models. Starting from twisted, translation invariant boundary conditions, we perform a…

The persistent dynamics in systems out of equilibrium, particularly those characterized by annihilation and creation of topological defects, is known to involve complicated spatiotemporal processes and is deemed difficult to control. Here…

The mechanical properties of crystals on curved substrates mix elastic, geometric and topological degrees of freedom. In order to elucidate the properties of such crystals we formulate the low-energy effective action that combines metric…

We explore thermal fluctuations of thin planar membranes with a frozen spatially-varying background metric and a shear modulus. We focus on a special class of $D$-dimensional ``warped membranes'' embedded in a $d-$dimensional space with…

Active nematics are fluids in which the components have nematic symmetry and are driven out of equilibrium due to the microscopic generation of an active stress. When the active stress is high, it drives flows in the nematic and can lead to…

In 1T-TaS2, the nearly-commensurate charge density wave (NC-CDW) exhibits emergent chirality, a property of interest for technological applications such as memory. We study the relationship between chirality and topological defects using…

Disclinations, first observed in mesomorphic phases, are relevant to a number of ill-ordered condensed matter media, with continuous symmetries or frustrated order. They also appear in polycrystals at the edges of grain boundaries. They are…

In this thesis I discuss analytical approaches to disordered systems using field theory. Disordered systems are characterized by a random energy landscape due to heterogeneities, which remains fixed on the time scales of the phenomena…

We consider layered superconductors with a flux lattice perpendicular to the layers and random columnar defects parallel to the magnetic field B. We show that the decoupling transition temperature Td, at which the Josephson coupling…

We consider simulations of Wigner crystals interacting with random quenched disorder in the presence of thermal fluctuations. When quenched disorder is absent, there is a well defined melting temperature determined by the proliferation of…

Topological defects are a ubiquitous phenomenon in diverse physical systems. In nematic liquid crystals (LCs), they are dynamic, physicochemically distinct, sensitive to stimuli, and are thereby promising for a range of applications.…

ZrTe5 is a highly tunable, high-mobility topological material that hosts a rich variety of quantum phenomena, making it a promising platform for next-generation quantum technologies. Despite intensive research efforts, experimental studies…

Disorder effects on three-dimensional second-order topological insulators (3DSOTIs) are investigated numerically and analytically. The study is based on a tight-binding Hamiltonian for non-interacting electrons on a cubic lattice with a…

In phase transitions, mesoscale structures such as topological defects, vortex strings, and domain walls control the path towards equilibrium, and thus the functional properties of many active devices. In photoinduced phase transitions…

A numerical approach to disordered 2D superconductors described by BCS mean field theory is outlined. The energy gap and the superfluid density at zero temperature and the quasiparticle density of states are studied. The method involves…

We study the two-dimensional Ising model on a network with a novel type of quenched topological (connectivity) disorder. We construct random lattices of constant coordination number and perform large scale Monte Carlo simulations in order…

Cultured stem cells have become a standard platform not only for regenerative medicine and developmental biology but also for biophysical studies. Yet, the characterization of cultured stem cells at the level of morphology and macroscopic…

It is well established that for non-interacting electrons, increasing disorder drives a metal into a gapless localized Anderson insulator. While in three dimensions a threshold in disorder must be crossed for the transition, in two…

The directed polymer in a 1+3 dimensional random medium is known to present a disorder-induced phase transition. For a polymer of length $L$, the high temperature phase is characterized by a diffusive behavior for the end-point displacement…

We study the instability of the discrete vortex with topological charge S=2 in a prototypical lattice model and observe its mediation through the central lattice site. Motivated by this finding, we analyze the model with the central site…