278 citations · 1.5k across the 47 of their papers we have counts for
47 papers
Colloids in Two-Dimensional Active Nematics: Conformal Cogs and Controllable Spontaneous Rotation
Alexander J. H. Houston, Gareth P. Alexander
A major challenge in the study of active systems is to harness their non-equilibrium dynamics into useful work. We address this by showing how to design colloids with controllable…
A Twist On Active Membranes: Odd Mechanics, Spontaneous Flows and Shape Instabilities
Sami C. Al-Izzi, Gareth P. Alexander
Living systems are chiral on multiple scales, from constituent biopolymers to large scale morphology, and their active mechanics is both driven by chiral components and serves to g…
Dynamics of Ordered Active Columns: Flows, Twists, and Waves
S. J. Kole, Gareth P. Alexander, Ananyo Maitra +1
We formulate the hydrodynamics of active columnar phases, with two-dimensional translational order in the plane perpendicular to the columns and no elastic restoring force for rela…
Active Nematic Multipoles: Flow Responses and the Dynamics of Defects and Colloids
Alexander J. H. Houston, Gareth P. Alexander
We introduce a general description of localised distortions in active nematics using the framework of active nematic multipoles. We give the Stokesian flows for arbitrary multipole…
Contact Topology and the Classification of Disclination Lines in Cholesteric Liquid Crystals
Joseph Pollard, Gareth P. Alexander
We give a topological classification of defect lines in cholesteric liquid crystals using methods from contact topology. By focusing on the role played by the chirality of the mate…
Entanglements and Whitehead Products: Generalizing Kleman's Construction to Higher-Dimensional Defects
Gareth P. Alexander, Randall D. Kamien
We review the interpretation of Whitehead products in homotopy theory as an entanglement of topological defects in ordered media.