Classical dynamical density functional theory: from fundamentals to applications

M te Vrugt, H Löwen, R Wittkowski - Advances in Physics, 2020 - Taylor & Francis
Classical dynamical density functional theory (DDFT) is one of the cornerstones of modern
statistical mechanics. It is an extension of the highly successful method of classical density …

Topology of orientational defects in confined smectic liquid crystals

PA Monderkamp, R Wittmann, LBG Cortes… - Physical Review Letters, 2021 - APS
We propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid
crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects …

Particle-resolved topological defects of smectic colloidal liquid crystals in extreme confinement

R Wittmann, LBG Cortes, H Löwen… - Nature …, 2021 - nature.com
Confined samples of liquid crystals are characterized by a variety of topological defects and
can be exposed to external constraints such as extreme confinements with nontrivial …

Collective mechano-response dynamically tunes cell-size distributions in growing bacterial colonies

R Wittmann, GHP Nguyen, H Löwen… - Communications …, 2023 - nature.com
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 …

Filamentous active matter: Band formation, bending, buckling, and defects

GA Vliegenthart, A Ravichandran, M Ripoll, T Auth… - Science …, 2020 - science.org
Motor proteins drive persistent motion and self-organization of cytoskeletal filaments.
However, state-of-the-art microscopy techniques and continuum modeling approaches focus …

Enhanced two-dimensional nematic order in slit-like pores

P Gurin, G Odriozola, S Varga - New Journal of Physics, 2021 - iopscience.iop.org
The effect of out-of-plane positional freedom is examined on the stability of two-dimensional
(2D) nematic order of hard non-spherical particles using the second virial density-functional …

Failure of standard density functional theory to describe the phase behavior of a fluid of hard right isosceles triangles

Y Martínez-Ratón, E Velasco - Physical Review E, 2021 - APS
A fluid of hard right isosceles triangles was studied using an extension of scaled-particle
density-functional theory which includes the exact third virial coefficient. We show that the …

Properties of surface Landau–de Gennes Q-tensor models

M Nestler, I Nitschke, H Löwen, A Voigt - Soft matter, 2020 - pubs.rsc.org
Uniaxial nematic liquid crystals whose molecular orientation is subjected to tangential
anchoring on a curved surface offer a non trivial interplay between the geometry and the …

Prediction of the liquid-crystal phase behavior of hard right triangles from fourth-virial density-functional theories

E Velasco, Y Martínez-Ratón - Physical Review E, 2023 - APS
We have used an extended scaled-particle theory that incorporates four-body correlations
through the fourth-order virial coefficient to analyze the orientational properties of a fluid of …

Statistics of carrier-cargo complexes

R Wittmann, PA Monderkamp, H Löwen - Physical Review E, 2023 - APS
We explore the statistics of assembling soft-matter building blocks to investigate the uptake
and encapsulation of cargo particles by carriers engulfing their load. While the such carrier …