Related papers: Measuring Cosmic Defect Correlations in Liquid Cry…
We revisit the velocity-dependent one-scale model for topological defect evolution, and present a new alternative formulation in terms of a physical (rather than invariant) characteristic length scale. While the two approaches are…
Many theories of the early universe predict the existence of a multiverse where bubbles continuously nucleate giving rise to observers in their interior. In this paper, we point out that topological defects of several dimensionalities will…
We study the formation of topological defects (quantum vortices) during the formation of a 2D polariton condensate at the $\Gamma$ point of a honeycomb lattice via the Kibble-Zurek mechanism. The lattice modifies the single-particle…
The influence of controlable parameters like temperature and wavelength on the trajectories of light in a nematic liquid crystal with topological defects is studied through a geometric model. The model incorporates phenomenological details…
The general Ericksen-Leslie system for the flow of nematic liquid crystals is reconsidered in the non-isothermal case aiming for thermodynamically consistent models. The non-isothermal model is then investigated analytically. A fairly…
We present exact kinematic consistency relations for cosmological structures that do not vanish at equal times and can thus be measured in surveys. These rely on cross-correlations between the density and velocity, or momentum, fields.…
Dust particles immersed within a plasma environment, such as those found in planetary rings or comets, will acquire an electric charge. If the ratio of the inter-particle potential energy to average kinetic energy is large enough the…
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…
The phase-ordering kinetics of a bulk uniaxial nematic liquid crystal is addressed using techniques that have been successfully applied to describe ordering in the O(n) model. The method involves constructing an appropriate mapping between…
Universal scaling laws govern the density of topological defects generated while crossing an equilibrium continuous phase transition. The Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM) predicts the dependence on the quench time for slow quenches. By…
Present work is a theoretical study on the stability of the thermotropic biaxial nematic liquid crystal phase in model systems. Its main aim is to present the phase diagrams of spatially uniform liquid mesophases and to identify the…
Topological defects such as cosmic strings may have been formed at early-universe phase transitions. Direct tests of this idea are impossible, but the mechanism can be elucidated by studying analogous processes in low-temperature…
We consider a phenomenological continuum theory for an extensile, overdamped active nematic liquid crystal, applicable in the dense regime. Constructed from general principles, the theory is universal, with parameters independent of any…
We study the relationship between topological defect formation and ground-state packings in a model of repulsions in external confining potentials. Specifically we consider screened 2D Coulombic repulsions, which conveniently parameterizes…
Topological defects play a fundamental role in the investigation of symmetries in quantum field theories. For conformal field theories in two space-time dimensions, it is possible to construct these defects using lattice models allowing…
In cosmological first-order phase transitions, the progress of true-vacuum bubbles is expected to be significantly retarded by the interaction between the bubble wall and the hot plasma. We examine the evolution and collision of slow-moving…
Pairs of atomic scale terraces on a single crystal metal surface can be made to merge controllably under suitable conditions to yield steps of double height and width. We study the effect of various physical parameters on the formation of…
We study the formation of topological defects via the Kibble-Zurek mechanism in a polariton supersolid in a liquid crystal microcavity with tunable Rashba-Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. We predict analytically two different scalings in…
The Kibble-Zurek (KZ) mechanism renders a theoretical framework for elucidating the formation of topological defects across continuous phase transitions. Nevertheless, it is not immediately clear whether the KZ mechanism applies to…
Highly periodic structures are often said to convey the beauty of nature. However, most material properties are strongly influenced by the defects they contain. On the mesoscopic scale, molecular self-assembly exemplifies this interplay;…