Topological structure and dynamics of three-dimensional active nematics
Abstract
Orientational topological defects in liquid crystals, known as disclinations, have been visualized in polymeric materials or through mesoscale simulations of the local orientation of the molecules. Duclos et al. report the experimental visualization of the structure and dynamics of disclination loops in active, three-dimensional nematics using light-sheet microscopy to watch the motion of nematic molecules driven by the motion of microtubule bundles (see the Perspective by Bartolo). This setup makes it possible to directly watch the nucleation, deformation, recombination, and collapse of spatially extended topological defects in three dimensions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Mar 06, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aaz4547
Entities
People
- Aparna Baskaran
- Arvind Baskaran
- Daniel Beller
- Debarghya Banerjee
- Federico Toschi
- Guillaume Duclos
- Itamar Kolvin
- Matthew S E Peterson
- Michael F Hagan
- Minu Varghese
- Raymond Adkins
- Robert A Pelcovits
- Sebastian J. Streichan
- Thomas R. Powers
- Vincenzo Vitelli
- Zvonimir Đogić
Organizations
- Brandeis University
- Brown University
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
- Eindhoven University of Technology
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Leiden University
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- United States Department of Defense
- United States Department of Energy
- University of California
- University of Chicago