Continuum theory of tilted chiral smectic phases

We demonstrate that the sequence of distorted commensurate phases observed in tilted chiral smectics is explained by the gain in electrostatic energy due to the lock-in of the unit cell to a number of layers which is the integer closest to the ratio pitch over thickness of the subjacent Sm-C$^*_\alpha$ phase. We also explain the sign change of the helicity in the middle of the sequence by a balance between two twist sources one intrinsic and another due to the distortion of the Sm-C$^*_\alpha$

Role of electrostatics in the texture of islands in free standing ferroelectric liquid crystal films

Curved textures of ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystals produce space charge when they involve divergence of the spontaneous polarization field. Impurity ions can partially screen this space charge, reducing long range interactions to local ones. Through studies of the textures of islands on very thin free-standing smectic films, we see evidence of this effect, in which materials with a large spontaneous polarization have static structures described by a large effective bend elastic constant. To address this issue, we calculated the electrostatic free energy of a free standing film of ferroelectric liquid crystal, showing how the screened coulomb interaction contributes a term to the effective bend elastic constant, in the static long wavelength limit. We report experiments which support the main features of this model

Untwisting of a cholesteric elastomer by a mechanical field

A mechanical strain field applied to a monodomain cholesteric elastomer will unwind the helical director distribution. There is an analogy with the classical problem of an electric field applied to a cholesteric liquid crystal, but with important differences. Frank elasticity is of minor importance unless the gel is very weak. The interplay is between director anchoring to the rubber elastic matrix and the external mechanical field. Stretching perpendicular to the helix axis induces the uniform unwound state via the elimination of sharp, pinned twist walls above a critical strain. Unwinding through conical director states occurs when the elastomer is stretched along the helical axis.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX 3 style, 3 EPS figure

Dynamics of the molecular orientation field coupled to ions in two-dimensional ferroelectric liquid crystals

Molecular orientation fluctuations in ferroelectric smectic liquid crystals produce space charges, due to the divergence of the spontaneous polarization. These space charges interact with mobile ions, so that one must consider the coupled dynamics of the orientation and ionic degrees of freedom. Previous theory and light scattering experiments on thin free-standing films of ferroelectric liquid crystals have not included this coupling, possibly invalidating their quantitative conclusions. We consider the most important case of very slow ionic dynamics, compared to rapid orientational fluctuations, and focus on the use of a short electric field pulse to quench orientational fluctuations. We find that the resulting change in scattered light intensity must include a term due to the quasistatic ionic configuration, which has previously been ignored. In addition to developing the general theory, we present a simple model to demonstrate the role of this added term

Diversity in the organization of elastin bundles and intramembranous muscles in bat wings

Unlike birds and insects, bats fly with wings composed of thin skin that envelops the bones of the forelimb and spans the area between the limbs, digits, and sometimes the tail. This skin is complex and unusual; it is thinner than typical mammalian skin and contains organized bundles of elastin and embedded skeletal muscles. These elements are likely responsible for controlling the shape of the wing during flight and contributing to the aerodynamic capabilities of bats. We examined the arrangement of two macroscopic architectural elements in bat wings, elastin bundles and wing membrane muscles, to assess the diversity in bat wing skin morphology. We characterized the plagiopatagium and dactylopatagium of 130 species from 17 families of bats using cross‐polarized light imaging. This method revealed structures with distinctive relative birefringence, heterogeneity of birefringence, variation in size, and degree of branching. We used previously published anatomical studies and tissue histology to identify birefringent structures, and we analyzed their architecture across taxa. Elastin bundles, muscles, neurovasculature, and collagenous fibers are present in all species. Elastin bundles are oriented in a predominantly spanwise or proximodistal direction, and there are five characteristic muscle arrays that occur within the plagiopatagium, far more muscle than typically recognized. These results inform recent functional studies of wing membrane architecture, support the functional hypothesis that elastin bundles aid wing folding and unfolding, and further suggest that all bats may use these architectural elements for flight. All species also possess numerous muscles within the wing membrane, but the architecture of muscle arrays within the plagiopatagium varies among families. To facilitate present and future discussion of these muscle arrays, we refine wing membrane muscle nomenclature in a manner that reflects this morphological diversity. The architecture of the constituents of the skin of the wing likely plays a key role in shaping wings during flight

Self-limited self-assembly of chiral filaments

The assembly of filamentous bundles with controlled diameters is common in biological systems and desirable for the development of nanomaterials. We discuss dynamical simulations and free energy calculations on patchy spheres with chiral pair interactions that spontaneously assemble into filamentous bundles. The chirality frustrates long-range crystal order by introducing twist between interacting subunits. For some ranges of system parameters this constraint leads to bundles with a finite diameter as the equilibrium state, and in other cases frustration is relieved by the formation of defects. While some self-limited structures can be modeled as twisted filaments arranged with local hexagonal symmetry, other structures are surprising in their complexity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Plaquette expectation value and lattice free energy of three-dimensional SU(N) gauge theory

We use high precision lattice simulations to calculate the plaquette expectation value in three-dimensional SU(N) gauge theory for N=2,3,4,5,8. Using these results, we study the N-dependence of the first non-perturbative coefficient in the weak-coupling expansion of hot QCD. We demonstrate that, in the limit of large N, the functional form of the plaquette expectation value with ultraviolet divergences subtracted is 15.9(2)-44(2)/N^2.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. v2: references added; published versio

Shock recovery experiments confirm the possibility of transferring viable microorganisms from Mars to Earth

Extract from introduction: With regard to the impact and ejection phase we tested the case for the transfer of microorganisms from Mars to Earth. Using a high explosive set-up thin layers of bacterial endospores of Bacillus subtilis, of the lichen Xanthoria elegans and of the cyanobacterium Chroococcidiopsis sp. embedded between two plates of gabbro were subjected to 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 GPa which is the pressure range observed in Martian meteorites [1]