2010/01/26 by Yasheng Yang, Robert B. Meyer, Michael F. Hagan · 56 citations
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemical physics #Chemistry #Chiral symmetry #Chirality (physics) #Condensed matter physics #Constraint (computer-aided design) #Crystallography #Frustration #Geometry #Hexagonal crystal system #Liquid crystal #Material Dynamics and Properties #Materials science #Micro and Nano Robotics #Nanotechnology #Physics #Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization #Quantum mechanics #SPHERES #Self-assembly #Spontaneous symmetry breaking #Symmetry (geometry) #Symmetry breaking #Topological defect #Twist #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.104.258102
published in Physical Review Letters 104(25), 258102 (American Physical Society) · 5 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2010/01/26 · openalex publication_date 2010/06/22 · arxiv updated 2015/05/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
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, 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 surprisingly complex.