软凝聚态物质
The pressure dependence of the bulk modulus of glassy polystyrene (PS) was measured in the relatively high-pressure regime, up to 6 GPa, at ambient temperature. For the measurements, PS microbeads were immersed in a pressure medium…
We study two-dimensional chiral dry Malthusian flocks; that is, chiral polar-ordered active matter with neither number nor momentum conservation. In the absence of fluctuations, these form a ``time cholesteric", in which the velocity…
Non-equilibrium phase coexistence is commonly observed in both biological and artificial systems, yet understanding it remains a significant challenge. Unlike equilibrium systems, where free energy provides a unifying framework, the absence…
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are elongated nanoparticles derived from natural cellulose, with potential applications ranging from rheological modifiers and emulsion stabilizers to photonic pigments and sensors. For most applications,…
Controlling the size and shape of assembled structures is a fundamental challenge in self-assembly, and is highly relevant in material design and biology. Here, we show that specific, but promiscuous, short-range binding interactions make…
Understanding the formation mechanism of doublet craters is an important challenge for advancing knowledge in astronomy and granular physics. In this study, we investigated craters formed by low-velocity impacts of two steel spheres with…
Transient size segregation of a bi-disperse granular mixture flowing over a periodic chute is studied using the Discrete Element Method and continuum simulations. A recently developed particle force-based size segregation model is used to…
Understanding the fundamental mechanisms behind plastic instabilities and shear band formation in amorphous media under applied deformation remains a long-standing challenge. Leveraging on the mathematical concept of topology, we revisit…
Dense liquids gradually transform into non-equilibrium amorphous solids as they pass through the experimental glass transition. Experimentally, ergodicity is lost because measurements are conducted within a finite time window. More than…
Based on the Maxwell relationship and experimental viscosity data, the phonon theory of liquids can provide a temperature-dependent description of liquid heat capacity that is consistent with experimental data. However, since liquid heat…
Controlling bacterial surface adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation in fluid systems is crucial for the safety and efficacy of medical and industrial processes. Here, we theoretically examine the transport of bacteria close to surfaces,…
The growth of viscous two-dimensional lipid domains in contact with a viscoelastic actin network was recently shown to exhibit unusual lipid domain ripening due to the geometry and anisotropy of the actin network [Arnold & Takatori.…
We investigate the wetting transitions displayed by the collection of active Brownian particles (ABPs) confined within rigid, impenetrable, flat walls. In our computational study using Brownian dynamics simulations, the wall-particle…
Understanding and computing the entropic forces exerted by polymer chains under confinement is important for many reasons, from research to applications. However, extracting properties related to the free energy, such as the force (or…
To unlock the potential for assembling complex colloidal "molecules", we investigate a minimal binary system of programmable colloidal atom-electron equivalents (PAE-EE), where electron equivalents (EEs) are multivalent linkers with two…
Interactions between active individuals in animal collectives lead to emergent responses that remain elusive in synthetic soft matter. Here, shape-morphing polymers are used to create bio-inspired transient solids that self-assemble with…
Motile liquid crystal (LC) colloids show peculiar behavior due to the high sensitivity to external stimuli driven by the LC elastic and surface effects. However, few studies focus on harnessing the LC phase transitions to propel colloidal…
Polar nematic liquid crystals have two special features, compared with conventional nematic liquid crystals. First, because of flexoelectricity, the combination of polar order and splay reduces the free energy. Second, because of…
In solids, external stress induces the Peach-Koehler force, which drives dislocations to move. Similarly, in liquid crystals, an external angular stress creates an analogous force, which drives disclinations to move. In this work, we…
In a crystalline solid under mechanical stress, a Frank-Read source is a pinned dislocation segment that repeatedly bows and detaches, generating concentric dislocation loops. We demonstrate that in nematic liquid crystals, an analogous…