Tuesday, June 20, 2023
15:00 - 16:00
How do materials choose their structure? Answering this question is essential for controlling the properties of materials ranging from pharmaceutical drugs to photonic crystals. In this talk, I will discuss the mechanism for the fundamental model system of hard spheres. To be specific, I will focus on the crucial role of 'topological clusters' and show how their transformations lead to a preference for the face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure. Besides shedding light on a long-standing mystery of hard spheres, this knowledge can be applied to predict crystal structures for other materials.
Soft Matter group
LAB42
L0.06
Group Seminar, Talk
condensed matter theory, soft matter
Willem Gispen