软凝聚态物质
Flagellated microswimmers B. Subtilis dispersed in a nematic phase of a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal form a living liquid crystal (LLC). The combination of the passive and active components allows us to analyze how the active…
Surface alignment of a recently discovered ferroelectric nematic liquid crystal (NF) is usually achieved by buffed polymer films, which produce a unidirectional polar alignment of the spontaneous electric polarization. We demonstrate that…
Soft matter systems are common in nature and make up nearly all the essential components necessary for life, from cells to the organelles within those cells. The ability of these soft materials to deform is crucial for the proper…
A new theoretical approach has been developed to describe the elastic properties of cubic blue phases of cholesteric liquid crystals (LCs). Blue phases are three-dimensional periodic chiral liquids with local anisotropy of the average…
This paper builds on a recently introduced dynamical networking framework, applying it to model motor-driven transport along cytoskeletal filament networks. Within this approach, the networking functional describes the periodic binding and…
We investigated the Rayleigh-Plateau instability at the interface between two immiscible liquids of equal viscosity using molecular dynamics simulations. Two types of initial conditions were considered, one with an imposed single-mode…
Rotating magnetic field is an efficient method of actuation of synthetic colloids in liquids. In this Letter we theoretically study the effect of the thermal noise on torque-driven steering of magnetic nanohelices. Using a combination of…
We give a homotopy classification of the global defects in ordered media, and explain it via the example of biaxial nematic liquid crystals, i.e., systems where the order parameter space is the quotient of the $3$-sphere $S^3$ by the…
Transverse wrinkles are known to appear in thin rectangular elastic sheets when stretched in the long direction. Numerically computed bifurcation diagrams for extremely thin, highly stretched films indicate entire orbits of wrinkling…
We study the behaviour of catalytically active droplets in multi-component conserved mixtures affected by noise. Working in the thin interface limit, we analytically determine the state diagram of the system, characterized by multiple…
Living cells establish long-range orientational order through collective alignment, giving rise to topological defects whose functional relevance is increasingly recognized in tissue organization and morphogenesis. Engineered topographical…
Adsorption of surfactants to fluid interfaces occurs in daily-life and technological contexts like dish washing and oil spill remediation. The surfactant surface coverage $\Gamma$ governs interface characteristics like tension $\gamma$,…
The directed motion of active colloids is governed by spatial variations in surface chemistry and interfacial stress, yet these properties remain extremely difficult to measure directly. We introduce a physics-informed neural network…
To study the impact of active systems on their surroundings, we introduce a model that couples an active nematic fluid to an isotropic substrate fluid via friction. We numerically show that as the active layer develops turbulence, the…
In living systems, DNA undergoes continuous and rhythmic mechanical remodeling through condensation, looping, and disentangling to regulate gene expression, segregate chromosomes, and guide morphogenesis. Here, we demonstrate a purely…
In his Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances Gibbs seems to suggest that the chemical potential of a crystal nucleus need not be equal to that of the coexisting fluid. In the field, Gibbs's statement has been something of a hot potato. I…
The evaporation of particle-laden droplets on engineered surfaces underpins a wide range of technologies, from printed electronics to biosensing. While the influence of substrate topography on passive particle deposition is well…
We investigated the physical mechanisms driving directional transport of solid objects by micro-lamellar structures laser-inscribed on the surface of a magnetoactive elastomer (MAE). When subjected to a rotating magnetic field with…
Phase separation within polymer networks plays a central role in shaping the structure and mechanics of both synthetic materials and living cells, including the formation of biomolecular condensates within cytoskeletal networks. Previous…
Ion clustering has been proposed as a mechanism leading to the peculiar 'anomalous underscreening' phenomenon seen for electrostatic interactions between charge surfaces immersed in concentrated electrolytes. These interactions have been…