Emergent Geometry of Inhomogeneous Crystals

LEOPOLDO R. GÓMEZ

Seminario; Physics Seminar of Rome University; 2015

Department of Physics - Rome University

Uniform triangular crystal lattices are the ground state for particles that interact isotropically in two dimensions. When immersed in an external potential however, for example an electric potential, a flow field, or gravity, the resulting phases resemble the distorted grids that many of Escher´s drawings are based on. We study these `conformal crystals? using colloidal experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. By establishing a projection from the inhomogeneous conformal crystals to homogeneous crystals on curved surfaces, we are able to predict the distribution of defects of such crystals. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate generic behavior of the resulting defect structures throughout a variety of physical systems.