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Erdal C. Oğuz

Publications and source records attributed to Erdal C. Oğuz.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

The scales of disorder in perfect quasicrystals

The classical dichotomy between crystalline order and amorphous disorder is increasingly challenged by novel states that lack conventional crystalline symmetries while retaining crystal-like properties. Quasicrystals occupy a distinctive position within this expanding framework by possessing long-range order without translational periodicity, thereby permitting arbitrary $N$-fold rotational symmetry. Paradoxically, far from their unique symmetry center, high-symmetry quasicrystals closely resemble disordered patterns, raising the question of how deterministic order can be detected. Here we show that increasing rotational symmetry progressively suppresses local statistical signatures of quasiperiodicity, while preserving its underlying exact long-range order. This order is thus concealed below an emergent crossover length that grows linearly with $N$. Therefore, as $N \rightarrow \infty$, the disorder-like regime expands without bound, defining a symmetry-controlled geometric critical point at which deterministic order and randomness become statistically indistinguishable over any finite observation window. For finite $N$, however, quasiperiodic order becomes detectable beyond this crossover, revealing a second emergent length scale that we identify as the size of a \textit{statistical unit cell} -- finite patches over which statistical properties recur despite the absence of conventional translational periodicity. In one dimension, the statistical-unit-cell size coincides with the crossover length, whereas in two dimensions it grows as $N^2$, remaining smaller than the size of typical approximants and establishing a hierarchy of emergent length scales. Together, the disorder-to-order crossover and statistical unit cells provide a quantitative framework connecting crystals, quasicrystals, and amorphous matter, showing how apparent disorder can emerge from purely deterministic geometry.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Emergence of Disordered Hyperuniformity in Confined Fluids and Soft Matter

Confinement can significantly alter fluid properties, offering potential for specific technological applications. However, achieving precise control over the structural complexity of confined fluids and soft matter remains challenging, as it often requires careful tuning of system parameters. In this study, we perform large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of a fluid confined in a slit pore, employing an interaction potential applicable to a broad range of soft matter. Confinement induces the fluid to form two-dimensional (2D) layers, each of which self-assembles into structures of varying complexity. Notably, we observe a suppression of large-scale density fluctuations-akin to crystals-within complex nontrivial fluid-like geometries, leading to the emergence of disordered hyperuniformity. We demonstrate that fluid properties can be precisely adjusted by modifying control parameters. This work provides a foundation for designing experimental protocols to regulate the structure of self-assembling materials, stabilize disordered hyperuniform structures, and facilitate the fabrication of 2D arrays with tailored complexity. Additionally, it offers a new perspective for analyzing biological monolayers, such as epithelial tissues.

cond-mat.soft↗

The rheology of confined colloidal hard discs

Colloids may be treated as `big atoms' so that they are good models for atomic and molecular systems. Colloidal hard disks are therefore good models for 2d materials and although their phase behavior is well characterized, rheology has received relatively little attention. Here we exploit a novel, particle-resolved, experimental set-up and complementary computer simulations to measure the shear rheology of quasi-hard-disc colloids in extreme confinement. In particular, we confine quasi-2d hard discs in a circular `corral' comprised of 27 particles held in optical traps. Confinement and shear suppress hexagonal ordering that would occur in the bulk and create a layered fluid. We measure the rheology of our system by balancing drag and driving forces on each layer. Given the extreme confinement, it is remarkable that our system exhibits rheological behavior very similar to unconfined 2d and 3d hard particle systems, characterized by a dynamic yield stress and shear-thinning of comparable magnitude. By quantifying particle motion perpendicular to shear, we show that particles become more tightly confined to their layers with no concomitant increase in density upon increasing shear rate. Shear thinning is therefore a consequence of a reduction in dissipation due to a weakening in interactions between layers as the shear rate increases. We reproduce our experiments with Brownian Dynamics simulations with Hydrodynamic Interactions (HI) included at the level of the Rotne-Prager tensor. That the inclusion of HI is necessary to reproduce our experiments is evidence of their importance in transmission of momentum through the system.

cond-mat.soft↗

Flexible confinement leads to multiple relaxation regimes in glassy colloidal liquids

Understanding relaxation of supercooled fluids is a major challenge and confining such systems can lead to bewildering behaviour. Here we exploit an optically confined colloidal model system in which we use reduced pressure as a control parameter. The dynamics of the system are ``Arrhenius'' at low and moderate pressure, but at higher pressures relaxation is faster than expected. We associate this faster relaxation with a decrease in density adjacent to the confining boundary due to local ordering in the system enabled by the flexible wall.

cond-mat.soft↗

Topology Restricts Quasidegeneracy in Sheared Square Colloidal Ice

Recovery of ground-state degeneracy in two-dimensional square ice is a significant challenge in the field of geometric frustration with far-reaching fundamental implications, such as realization of vertex models and understanding the effect of dimensionality reduction. We combine experiments, theory, and numerical simulations to demonstrate that sheared square colloidal ice partially recovers the ground-state degeneracy for a wide range of field strengths and lattice shear angles. Our method opens an avenue to engineer a novel class of frustrated micro- and nano-structures based on sheared magnetic lattices in a wide range of soft- and condensed-matter systems.

cond-mat.soft↗

Hyperuniformity and anti-hyperuniformity in one-dimensional substitution tilings

We consider the scaling properties characterizing the hyperuniformity (or anti-hyperuniformity) of long wavelength fluctuations in a broad class of one-dimensional substitution tilings. We present a simple argument that predicts the exponent $α$ governing the scaling of Fourier intensities at small wavenumbers, tilings with $α>0$ being hyperuniform, and confirm with numerical computations that the predictions are accurate for quasiperiodic tilings, tilings with singular continuous spectra, and limit-periodic tilings. Tilings with quasiperiodic or singular continuous spectra can be constructed with $α$ arbitrarily close to any given value between $-1$ and $3$. Limit-periodic tilings can be constructed with $α$ between $-1$ and $1$ or with Fourier intensities that approach zero faster than any power law.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Transmission of torque at the nanoscale

In macroscopic mechanical devices torque is transmitted through gearwheels and clutches. In the construction of devices at the nanoscale, torque and its transmission through soft materials will be a key component. However, this regime is dominated by thermal fluctuations leading to dissipation. Here we demonstrate the principle of torque transmission for a disc-like colloidal assembly exhibiting clutch-like behaviour, driven by $27$ particles in optical traps. These are translated on a circular path to form a rotating boundary that transmits torque to additional particles confined to the interior. We investigate this transmission and find that it is determined by solid-like or fluid-like behaviour of the device and a stick-slip mechanism reminiscent of macroscopic gearwheels slipping. The transmission behaviour is predominantly governed by the rotation rate of the boundary and the density of the confined system. We determine the efficiency of our device and thus optimise conditions to maximise power output.

cond-mat.soft↗

Ground state of dipolar hard spheres confined in channels

We investigate the ground state of a classical two-dimensional system of hard-sphere dipoles confined between two hard walls. Using lattice sum minimization techniques we reveal that at fixed wall separations, a first-order transition from a vacuum to a straight one-dimensional chain of dipoles occurs upon increasing the density. Further increase in the density yields the stability of an undulated chain as well as nontrivial buckling structures. We explore the close-packed configurations of dipoles in detail, and we find that, in general, the densest packings of dipoles possess complex magnetizations along the principal axis of the slit. Our predictions serve as a guideline for experiments with granular dipolar and magnetic colloidal suspensions confined in slit-like channel geometry.

cond-mat.soft↗

Self-assembly of complex structures in colloid-polymer mixtures

If particles interact according to isotropic pair potentials that favor multiple length scales, in principle a large variety of different complex structures can be achieved by self-assembly. We present, motivate, and discuss a conjecture for the occurrence of non-trivial (i.e., non-triangular) orderings based on newly-introduced enthalpy-like pair potentials, the capability of which we demonstrate for the specific example of colloid-polymer mixtures. Upon examining the phase behavior of two-dimensional colloid-polymer mixtures, which can also be realized in experiments, we observe that non-trivial structures only occur in the vicinity of selected densities where triangular ordering is suppressed by the pair potential. Close to these densities, a large number of different phases self-assemble that correspond to tilings containing triangular, rhombic, square, hexagonal, and pentagonal tiles, and including some of the Archimedean tilings. We obtain the ground-state energies by minimizing the corresponding lattice sums with respect to particle positions in a unit cell as well as cell geometry and verify the occurrence of selected phases at finite temperatures by using Brownian Dynamics simulations. All reported phases should be accessible in experiments and, in addition, our work provides a manual on how to find the regions of non-trivial phases in parameter space for complex pair interactions in general.

cond-mat.soft↗

Hyperuniformity of Quasicrystals

Hyperuniform systems, which include crystals, quasicrystals and special disordered systems, have attracted considerable recent attention, but rigorous analyses of the hyperuniformity of quasicrystals have been lacking because the support of the spectral intensity is dense and discontinuous. We employ the integrated spectral intensity, $Z(k)$, to quantitatively characterize the hyperuniformity of quasicrystalline point sets generated by projection methods. The scaling of $Z(k)$ as $k$ tends to zero is computed for one-dimensional quasicrystals and shown to be consistent with independent calculations of the variance, $σ^2(R)$, in the number of points contained in an interval of length $2R$. We find that one-dimensional quasicrystals produced by projection from a two-dimensional lattice onto a line of slope $1/τ$ fall into distinct classes determined by the width of the projection window. For a countable dense set of widths, $Z(k) \sim k^4$; for all others, $Z(k)\sim k^2$. This distinction suggests that measures of hyperuniformity define new classes of quasicrystals in higher dimensions as well.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Controlled assembly of single colloidal crystals using electro-osmotic micro-pumps

We assemble charged colloidal spheres at deliberately chosen locations on a charged unstructured glass substrate utilizing ion exchange based electro-osmotic micro-pumps. Using microscopy, a simple scaling theory and Brownian Dynamics simulations, we systematically explore the control parameters of crystal assembly and the mechanisms through which they depend on the experimental boundary conditions. We demonstrate that crystal quality depends crucially on the assembly distance of the colloids. This is understood as resulting from the competition between inward transport by the electro-osmotic pump flow and the electro-phoretic outward motion of the colloids. Optimized conditions include substrates of low and colloids of large electro-kinetic mobility. Then a sorting of colloids by size is observed in binary mixtures with larger particles assembling closer to the ion exchanger beads. Moreover, mono-sized colloids form defect free single domain crystals which grow outside a colloid-free void with facetted inner crystal boundaries centred on the ion exchange particle. This works remarkably well, even with irregularly formed ion exchange resin splinters.

cond-mat.soft↗

The effect of boundary adaptivity on hexagonal ordering and bistability in circularly confined quasi hard discs

The behaviour of materials under spatial confinement is sensitively dependent on the nature of the confining boundaries. In two dimensions, confinement within a hard circular boundary inhibits the hexagonal ordering observed in bulk systems at high density. Using colloidal experiments and Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate two model systems of quasi hard discs under circularly symmetric confinement. The first system employs an adaptive circular boundary, defined experimentally using holographic optical tweezers. We show that deformation of this boundary allows, and indeed is required for, hexagonal ordering in the confined system. The second system employs a circularly symmetric optical potential to confine particles without a physical boundary. We show that, in the absence of a curved wall, near perfect hexagonal ordering is possible. We propose that the degree to which hexagonal ordering is suppressed by a curved boundary is determined by the `strictness' of that wall.

cond-mat.soft↗

Packing Confined Hard Spheres Denser with Adaptive Prism Phases

We show that hard spheres confined between two parallel hard plates pack denser with periodic adaptive prismatic structures which are composed of alternating prisms of spheres. The internal structure of the prisms adapts to the slit height which results in close packings for a range of plate separations, just above the distance where three intersecting square layers fit exactly between the plates. The adaptive prism phases are also observed in real-space experiments on confined sterically stabilized colloids and in Monte Carlo simulations at finite pressure.

cond-mat.soft↗