软凝聚态物质
The field of active matter explores the behaviors of self propelled agents out of equilibrium, with active suspensions, such as swimming bacteria in solutions, serving as impactful models. These systems exhibit spatio-temporal patterns akin…
Breathing solitons consist of a fast beating wave within a compact envelope of stable shape and velocity. They can propagate and carry information and energy in a variety of contexts such as plasmas, optical fibers and cold atoms, but…
From protein motifs to black holes, topological solitons are pervasive nonlinear excitations that are robust and can be driven by external fields. So far, existing driving mechanisms all accelerate solitons and antisolitons in opposite…
Noise threads every scale of the natural world. Once dismissed as mere background hiss, it is now recognized as both a currency of information and a source of order in systems driven far from equilibrium. From nanometer-scale motor proteins…
This work investigates experimentally and numerically the dynamics of rigid particles settling under gravity in a highly viscous fluid. We demonstrate that certain shapes: cones, crescent moons, arrowheads, and open flat rings reorient and…
We adapt the Edwards-Muthukumar theoretical framework for a single polymer chain to investigate the interplay between proton binding and counterion condensation for poly-acids. We find that changes to pH enable non-monotonic transitions…
Fracture behavior in architected materials can be influenced by heterogeneities, yet the mechanisms by which imperfections affect crack propagation remain poorly understood. In this study, we introduce well-controlled, localized defects in…
Understanding the structural origins of glass formation and mechanical response remains a central challenge in condensed matter physics. Recent studies have identified the local caging potential experienced by a particle due to its nearest…
Porous gels -- gels with solvent-filled pores that are much larger than their mesh size -- are widely used in engineering and biomedical applications due to their tunable mechanics, high water content, and selective permeability. Among…
Many microswimmers are able to swim through viscous fluids by employing periodic non-reciprocal deformations of their appendages. Here we use a simple microswimmer model inspired by swimming biflagellates which consists of a spherical cell…
In this work, the nonequilibrium pathways of the collapse of the helix-forming biopolymer polyalanine are investigated. To this end, the full time evolution of the helix-coil transition is simulated using molecular dynamics simulations. At…
We present results from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations for the nonequilibrium dynamics of the collapse and helix-coil transition in polyalanine. In particular, we compare the influence of three different thermostats, viz., the…
Active matter systems, due to their spontaneous self-propulsion ability, hold potential for future applications in healthcare and environmental sustainability. Marangoni swimmers, a type of synthetic active matter, are a common model system…
So-called polar liquid crystals possess spontaneous long-range mutual orientation of their electric dipole moments, conferring bulk polarity to fluid phases of matter. The combination of polarity and fluidity leads to complex phase…
Asymmetries and anisotropies are widespread in biological systems, including in the structure and dynamics of cilia and eukaryotic flagella. These microscopic, hair-like appendages exhibit asymmetric beating patterns that break…
The recent discovery of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking has demonstrated the possibility of discovering the exotic textures of ferromagnetic systems in liquid crystalline fluid ferro-electrics. We show that the polar smectic mesophase…
Experimental results from mechanical viscoelastic as well as dielectric relaxation times were compared to theoretical expectations utilizing polymer scaling theory. Viscoelastic relaxation of a hydrogel at 33% relative humidity fabricated…
We consider the effects of an applied pressure gradient on the classical Freedericksz transition, finding a delayed transition, the promotion of particular director configurations and even pressure-induced multistability. Using the…
Self-propulsion plays a crucial role in biological processes and nanorobotics, enabling small systems to move autonomously in noisy environments. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that a bound skyrmion-skyrmion pair in a synthetic…
This work presents a new constitutive and computational framework based on strain-like internal variables belonging to Sym(3) and two representative rheological configurations. The generalized Maxwell and generalized Kelvin-Voigt models are…