Bend instability and topological defects in 3D active nematics

 · Invited

Abstract

Active nematics describes a phase of matter where active particles that consume energy to produce mechanical work assemble at high density in a state with orientational order but no positional order. In this talk, I will show how the active nematic framework allows us to better understand aspects of the collective behaviors that emerge in bioinspired materials. In particular, I will present our recent efforts to describe the emergence of flows and topological defects in 3D active nematics composed of a passive colloidal liquid crystal doped with active microtubules and molecular motors. I will first describe the generic bend instability that emerges in a flow-aligned 3D active gel and show how the interplay between activity, nematic elasticity and confinement controls the wavelength of this activity driven instability. I will then present current work on the emergence of flows and topological defect in 3D.

*We acknowledge support from the Brandeis NSF MRSEC, Bioinspired Soft Materials, DMR-1420382 and the Human Frontier Science Program.

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Presenters

  • Guillaume Duclos

    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University

Authors

  • Guillaume Duclos

    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University

  • Daniel Beller

    • Department of Physics, University of California, Merced
    • University of California Merced

  • Pooja Chandrakar

    • University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Minu Varghese

    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University
    • Physics Department, Brandeis University

  • Debarghya Banerjee

    • Max-Planck-Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
    • Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen

  • Matthew Peterson

    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University

  • Arvind Baskaran

    • Physics, Brandeis University
    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University
    • Physics Department, Brandeis University

  • Federico Toschi

    • Eindhoven University of Technology
    • Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology

  • Vincenzo Vitelli

    • University of Chicago
    • Univ of Chicago
    • James Franck Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago
    • The James Franck Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago

  • Sebastian Streichan

    • Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Robert Alan Pelcovits

    • Brown University
    • Department of Physics and School of Engineering, Brown University

  • Thomas Powers

    • Brown University
    • School of Engineering and Department of Physics, Brown University
    • Department of Physics and School of Engineering, Brown University

  • Aparna Baskaran

    • Brandeis University
    • Physics, Brandeis University
    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University
    • Physics Department, Brandeis University

  • Michael F Hagan

    • Chemistry, Brandeis University
    • Physics, Brandeis University
    • Brandeis University
    • Martin A. Fisher School of Physics, Brandeis University
    • Physics Department, Brandeis University

  • Zvonimir Dogic

    • Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara