卷曲液晶微泳者：一个自发对称性破缺的级联
Curling Liquid Crystal Microswimmers: a cascade of spontaneous symmetry breaking
摘要：
我们报告卷曲自推进常见的介晶化合物的水乳液。向列型液晶液滴在浓度高于临界胶束浓度的表面活性剂溶液中自推进，同时经历胶束增溶。我们分析了Hele-Shaw几何形状和可变浮力的3D设置中的轨迹。微滴内部的指向矢场和对流场之间的耦合导致了第二次对称破缺，从而引起二维卷曲运动。这是通过加热到各向同性相的非螺旋持续游动的可逆过渡来证明的。此外，自趋化性可以自发地打破反转对称性，导致螺旋轨迹。
英文摘要：
We report curling self-propulsion in aqueous emulsions of common mesogenic compounds. Nematic liquid crystal droplets self-propel in a surfactant solution with concentrations above the critical micelle concentration while undergoing micellar solubilization. We analyzed trajectories both in a Hele-Shaw geometry and in a 3D setup at variable buoyancy. The coupling between the nematic director field and the convective flow inside the droplet leads to a second symmetry breaking which gives rise to curling motion in 2D. This is demonstrated through a reversible transition to non-helical persistent swimming by heating to the isotropic phase. Furthermore, auto-chemotaxis can spontaneously break the inversion symmetry, leading to helical trajectories.
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