Presented by: Ivan Smalyukh, University of Colorado Boulder

Abstract: Words of Richard Feynman “What I cannot create, I do not understand” inspire researchers to develop artificial building blocks of matter. This pursuit has the potential to boost our understanding of nature’s inner workings by re-creating phenomena and testing theories from research fields like cosmology in experimentally accessible physical systems like liquid crystals, colloids and magnets. It also allows for making new types of materials by design, allowing for physical properties not encountered in nature. 

            In my talk, I will discuss how vortex knots in liquid crystals can exhibit atom-like behavior, including fusion, fission and self-assembly into various crystals with giant electrostriction properties. These findings will  let us admire the beautiful history of the early model of atoms by Lord Kelvin, as well as the very last poem by Maxwell related to it. I will then show that these vortices interact with light similar to what was predicted for the elusive cosmic strings, with knots and arrays of vortices allowing for spatially localizing beams of light into closed loops and knots for technological uses. Finally, I will discuss how we also develop mesostructured metamaterials that combine thermal super-insulation with pre-designed light transmission in visible and infrared spectral ranges to re-create Earth's greenhouse effect on much smaller scales, which can be useful for harvesting solar energy, boosting efficiency of buildings and potentially even allowing for extraterrestrial habitats. 

Host: Mihaly Horanyi