Minimizers of the Landau-de Gennes energy around a spherical colloid particle

We consider energy minimizing configurations of a nematic liquid crystal around a spherical colloid particle, in the context of the Landau-de Gennes model. The nematic is assumed to occupy the exterior of a ball of radius r_0, satisfy homeotropic weak anchoring at the surface of the colloid, and approach a uniform uniaxial state at infinity. We study the minimizers in two different limiting regimes: for balls which are small compared to the characteristic length scale r_0>L. The relationship between the radius and the anchoring strength W is also relevant. For small balls we obtain a limiting quadrupolar configuration, with a "Saturn ring" defect for relatively strong anchoring, corresponding to an exchange of eigenvalues of the Q-tensor. In the limit of very large balls we obtain an axisymmetric minimizer of the Oseen-Frank energy, and a dipole configuration with exactly one point defect is obtained

Separation of colour degree of freedom from dynamics in a soliton cellular automaton

We present an algorithm to reduce the coloured box-ball system, a one dimensional integrable cellular automaton described by motions of several colour (kind) of balls, into a simpler monochrome system. This algorithm extracts the colour degree of freedom of the automaton as a word which turns out to be a conserved quantity of this dynamical system. It is based on the theory of crystal basis and in particular on the tensor products of sl_n crystals of symmetric and anti-symmetric tensor representations.Comment: 19 page

Structure and Phase transitions of Yukawa balls

In this review, an overview of structural properties and phase transitions in finite spherical dusty (complex) plasma crystals -- so-called Yukawa balls -- is given. These novel kinds of Wigner crystals can be directly analyzed experimentally with video cameras. The experiments clearly reveal a shell structure and allow to determine the shell populations, to observe metastable states and transitions between configurations as well as phase transitions. The experimental observations of the static properties are well explained by a rather simple theoretical model which treats the dust particles as being confined by a parabolic potential and interacting via an isotropic Yukawa pair potential. The excitation properties of the Yukawa balls such as normal modes and the dynamic behavior, including the time-dependent formation of the crystal requires, in addition, to include the effect of friction between the dust particles and the neutral gas. Aside from first-principle molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations several analytical approaches are reviewed which include shell models and a continuum theory. A summary of recent results and theory-experiment comparisons is given and questions for future research activities are outlined.Comment: Invited review, submitted to Contrib. Plasmas Physic

Total Chiral Symmetry Breaking during Crystallization: Who needs a "Mother Crystal"?

Processes that can produce states of broken chiral symmetry are of particular interest to physics, chemistry and biology. Chiral symmetry breaking during crystallization of sodium chlorate occurs via the production of secondary crystals of the same handedness from a single "mother crystal" that seeds the solution. Here we report that a large and "symmetric" population of D- and L-crystals moves into complete chiral purity disappearing one of the enantiomers. This result shows: (i) a new symmetry breaking process incompatible with the hypothesis of a single "mother crystal"; (ii) that complete symmetry breaking and chiral purity can be achieved from an initial system with both enantiomers. These findings demand a new explanation to the process of total symmetry breaking in crystallization without the intervention of a "mother crystal" and open the debate on this fascinating phenomenon. We present arguments to show that our experimental data can been explained with a new model of "complete chiral purity induced by nonlinear autocatalysis and recycling".Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Added reference

Non-equilibrium two-phase coexistence in a confined granular layer

We report the observation of the homogenous nucleation of crystals in a dense layer of steel spheres confined between two horizontal plates vibrated vertically. Above a critical vibration amplitude, two-layer crystals with square symmetry were found to coexist in steady state with a surrounding granular liquid. By analogy to equilibrium hard sphere systems, the phase behavior can be explained through entropy maximization. However, dramatic non-equilibrium effects are present, including a significant difference in the granular temperatures of the two phases.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTex4 forma

On a Periodic Soliton Cellular Automaton

We propose a box and ball system with a periodic boundary condition (pBBS). The time evolution rule of the pBBS is represented as a Boolean recurrence formula, an inverse ultradiscretization of which is shown to be equivalent with the algorithm of the calculus for the 2Nth root. The relations to the pBBS of the combinatorial R matrix of ${U'}_q(A_N^{(1)})$ are also discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure

Analysis of a particle antiparticle description of a soliton cellular automaton

We present a derivation of a formula that gives dynamics of an integrable cellular automaton associated with crystal bases. This automaton is related to type D affine Lie algebra and contains usual box-ball systems as a special case. The dynamics is described by means of such objects as carriers, particles, and antiparticles. We derive it from an analysis of a recently obtained formula of the combinatorial R (an intertwiner between tensor products of crystals) that was found in a study of geometric crystals.Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages, 2 figure

The A^{(1)}_M automata related to crystals of symmetric tensors

A soliton cellular automaton associated with crystals of symmetric tensor representations of the quantum affine algebra U'_q(A^{(1)}_M) is introduced. It is a crystal theoretic formulation of the generalized box-ball system in which capacities of boxes and carriers are arbitrary and inhomogeneous. Scattering matrices of two solitons coincide with the combinatorial R matrices of U'_q(A^{(1)}_{M-1}). A piecewise linear evolution equation of the automaton is identified with an ultradiscrete limit of the nonautonomous discrete KP equation. A class of N soliton solutions is obtained through the ultradiscretization of soliton solutions of the latter.Comment: 45 pages, latex2e, 2 figure

Enhancement of mobilities in a pinned multidomain crystal

Mobility properties inside and around degenerate domains of an elastic lattice partially pinned on a square array of traps are explored by means of a fully controllable model system of macroscopic particles. We focus on the different configurations obtained for filling ratios equal to 1 or 2 when the pinning strength is lowered. These theoretically expected but never observed configurations are degenerated, which implies the existence of a multidomain crystal. We show that the distinction between trapped and untrapped particles that is made in the case of strong pinning is not relevant for such a weaker pinning. Indeed, one ought to distinguish between particles inside or around the domains associated to positional degeneracies. The possible consequences on the depinning dynamics of the lattice are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures Version 2 : longer versio