The aim of the plenary lecture was two-fold. First, it was a review and discussion of the assembly of nematic colloids, where the topological-defect-mediated colloidal interactions are responsible for the striking appearance of the in 2D and 3D nematic colloidal crystals of various symmetries. With respect to the second aim, the lecture reviewed recent developments in a novel class of liquid-crystal photonic microdevices: cholesteric 3D microlasers and electrically tunable nematic microresonators. It was demonstrated that photonic microdevices made of soft matter out perform their solid-state analogues in many aspects. The future development of liquid crystal photonic microdevices was proposed, such as entangled microphotonic devices realized in double nematic emulsions, colloids on microstructured surfaces and knotted colloidal soft matter.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 26597671Skyrmions are localized particle-like topological entities in a number of continuous fields that play important roles in various condensed matter systems. Here we are using Landau - de Gennnes theoretical approach and numerical techniques to show that in a highly chiral nematic liquid crystal confined to a thin film between two parallel surfaces imposing normal alignment nematic director can exhibit thermodynamically stable states characterized by quasi-two-dimensional Skyrmion lattices of disclinations. A chiral nematic liquid crystal film can thus serve as a model system, allowing direct investigation of numerous defect lattices by a variety of optical techniques at conditions that are less demanding than used for other condensed matter Skyrmion systems.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 2433892Upon invitation of the editors Andrej Vilfan wrote a Viewpoint article for the on-line journal Physics, published by the American Physical Society (APS). Its aim is to put the most important articles from other APS journals in a broader context and present them to more general audience. The present contribution highlights the results of an article explaining the flagellar synchronization in the green alga Chlamydomonas. Its authors used a simple model to show that synchronization is not a direct consequence of hydrodynamic coupling between the flagella, but rather of the rocking motion of the cell. In this respect the phenomenon shows a lot of similarity with the synchronization of pendulum clocks, already observed in the 17th century by Christiaan Huygens.
F.35 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 26113575Invited talk presented at 4th International Congress on Ceramics including 3rd Ceramic Leadership Summit Track, July 15-19, 2012, Chicago, Illinois. 2012
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 26506023Samo Kralj succeeded to receive from ESF support for an ESF workshop "Defect-assembled soft matter for nanoscience and biotechnology", that will be realised in Septembra 2013 in Rogaška Slatina, Slovenia.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting