Related papers: Measuring Cosmic Defect Correlations in Liquid Cry…
We study the dynamic after a smooth quench across a continuous transition from the disordered phase to the ordered phase. Based on scaling ideas, linear response and the spectrum of unstable modes, we develop a theoretical framework, valid…
Widely known for their uses in displays and electro-optics, liquid crystals are more than just technological marvels. They vividly reveal the topology and structure of various solitonic and singular field configurations, often markedly…
Motivated by the idea of developing a ``hydrodynamic'' description of spatiotemporal chaos, we have investigated the defect--defect correlation functions in the defect turbulence regime of the two--dimensional, anisotropic complex…
Liquid crystals generally support orientational singularities of the director field known as topological defects. These latter modifiy transport properties in their vicinity as if the geometry was non-Euclidean. We present a state of the…
We present a numerical study of the asymmetric dumbbell model consisting of ``molecules'' constructed as two different-sized Lennard-Jones spheres connected by a rigid bond. In terms of the largest (A) particle radius, we report data for…
In the course of a non-equilibrium continuous phase transition, the dynamics ceases to be adiabatic in the vicinity of the critical point as a result of the critical slowing down (the divergence of the relaxation time in the neighborhood of…
We investigate experimentally and numerically the defect configurations emerging when a cholesteric liquid crystal is confined to a spherical shell. We uncover a rich scenario of defect configurations, some of them non-existent in nematic…
How topological defects affect the dynamics of particles hopping between lattice sites of a distorted, two-dimensional crystal is addressed. Perturbation theory and numerical simulations show that weak, short-ranged topological disorder…
The density of extended topological defects created during symmetry-breaking phase transitions depends on the ratio between the correlation length in the symmetric phase near $T_c$ and the winding length of the defects as determined by the…
In the field of non-equilibrium phase transitions, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) is undoubtedly an important discovery, pointing out that some universal scaling rules are applied to a wide range of physical systems from quantum to the…
Zurek suggested [Nature 317 (1985) 505] that the Kibble mechanism, through which topological defects such as cosmic strings are believed to have been created in the early Universe, can also result in the formation of topological defects in…
We measure the defect density as a function of time at different temperatures in simulations of a two dimensional system of interacting particles. Just above the solid to liquid transition temperature, the power spectrum of the defect…
Topological defects, which are singular points in a director field, play a major role in shaping active systems. Here, we experimentally study topological defects and the flow patterns around them, that are formed during the highly rapid…
Defects are a ubiquitous feature of ordered media. They have certain universal features, independent of the underlying physical system, reflecting their topological origins. While the topological properties of defects are robust, they…
The structure of a molecular liquid, in both the nematic liquid crystalline and isotropic phases, around a cylindrical macroparticle, is studied using density functional theory. In the nematic phase the structure of the fluid is highly…
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…
Topological defects are an essential part of the structure and dynamics of all liquid crystals, and they are particularly important in experiments and simulations on active liquid crystals. In a recent paper, Vromans and Giomi [Soft Matter,…
We show by means of continuum theory and simulations that geometric percolation in uniaxial nematics of hard slender particles is fundamentally different from that in isotropic dispersions. In the nematic, percolation depends only very…
We study the kinetics of the nematic-isotropic transition in a two-dimensional liquid crystal by using a lattice Boltzmann scheme that couples the tensor order parameter and the flow consistently. Unlike in previous studies, we find the…
Near a continuous phase transition, systems with different microscopic origins display universal dynamics if their underlying symmetries are compatible. In a thermally quenched system, the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for the creation of…