Topological defects of dipole patchy particles on a spherical surface

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lieu, Uyen Tu, Yoshinaga, Natsuhiko
Format: Preprint
Published: 2020
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author Lieu, Uyen Tu
Yoshinaga, Natsuhiko
author_facet Lieu, Uyen Tu
Yoshinaga, Natsuhiko
contents We investigate the assembly of the dipole-like patchy particles confined to a spherical surface by Brownian dynamics simulations. The surface property of the spherical particle is described by the spherical harmonic $Y_{10}$, and the orientation of the particle is defined as the uniaxial axis. On a flat space, we observe a defect-free square lattice with nematic order. On a spherical surface, defects appear due to the topological constraint. As for the director field, four defects of winding number $+1/2$ are observed, satisfying the Euler characteristic. We have found many configurations of the four defects lying near a great circle. Regarding the positional order for the square lattice, eight grain boundary scars proliferate linearly with the sphere size. The positions and orientations of the eight grain boundary scars are strongly related to the four $+1/2$ defect cores.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2002_01161
institution arXiv
publishDate 2020
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Topological defects of dipole patchy particles on a spherical surface
Lieu, Uyen Tu
Yoshinaga, Natsuhiko
Soft Condensed Matter
We investigate the assembly of the dipole-like patchy particles confined to a spherical surface by Brownian dynamics simulations. The surface property of the spherical particle is described by the spherical harmonic $Y_{10}$, and the orientation of the particle is defined as the uniaxial axis. On a flat space, we observe a defect-free square lattice with nematic order. On a spherical surface, defects appear due to the topological constraint. As for the director field, four defects of winding number $+1/2$ are observed, satisfying the Euler characteristic. We have found many configurations of the four defects lying near a great circle. Regarding the positional order for the square lattice, eight grain boundary scars proliferate linearly with the sphere size. The positions and orientations of the eight grain boundary scars are strongly related to the four $+1/2$ defect cores.
title Topological defects of dipole patchy particles on a spherical surface
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.01161