Events in Physics

Topology of Soft Materials

Soft matter, despite its name, is surprisingly robust. Under broad conditions liquid crystals, colloids, and copolymers assemble into complex, refined structures, often stable over large temperature ranges and capable of self-repair and healing. Their elasticity is soft and so it is relatively easy to create long-wavelength distortions, topological defects, and configurations frustrated by conflicting boundary conditions. I will describe how geometric and topological principles can be applied in these systems to tailor complex, tunable and robust self-assembled arrays of defects and colloids in a variety of liquid crystals, ranging from the hierarchical formation of focal conic domains from patterned micro-pillar templates, to novel colloidal assemblages built from Janus washers with hybrid boundary conditions.