Mechanical stresses stemming from environmental factors are a key determinant of cellular
behavior and physiology. Yet, the role of self-induced biomechanical stresses in growing …

Liquid crystals can self-organize into a layered smectic phase. While the smectic layers are
typically straight, forming a lamellar pattern in bulk, external confinement may drastically …

Liquid crystalline media mediate interactions between suspended particles and confining
geometries, which not only has potential to guide patterning and bottom-up colloidal …

The interaction between two edge dislocations in a sheared lyotropic lamellar liquid-
crystalline medium is examined. The model is a mesoscale hydrodynamic model based on a …

The smectic C (smC) phase represents a unique class of liquid crystal phases characterized
by the layered arrangement of molecules with tilted orientations with respect to layer …

Rod-like objects at high packing fractions can exhibit liquid crystalline ordering. By
controlling how the rods align near a boundary, ie the anchoring, the defects of a liquid …

We study the dynamics of topological defects in continuum theories governed by a free
energy minimization principle, building on our recently developed framework (Romano et al …

Grain boundaries in extremely confined colloidal smectics possess a topological fine
structure with coexisting nematic and tetratic symmetry of the director field. An alternative …

Bacteria are prolific at colonizing diverse surfaces under a widerange of environmental
conditions, and exhibit fascinating examples of self-organization across scales. Though it …

Elongated colloidal rods at sufficient packing conditions are known to form stable lamellar or
smectic phases. Using a simplified volume-exclusion model, we propose a generic equation …