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Updated: Jun 20, 2025

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Rotational inertia-induced glassy transition in chiral particle systems
Bao-Quan Ai1,2, Rui-Xue Guo1,2, Chun-Hua Zeng3
1Key Laboratory of Atomic and Subatomic Structure and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), and School of Physics, <a href="https://ror.org/01kq0pv72">South China Normal University</a>, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Abstract:
The dense active matter exhibits characteristics reminiscent of traditional glassy phenomena, yet the role of rotational inertia in glass dynamics remains elusive. In this study, we investigate the glass dynamics of chiral active particles influenced by rotational inertia. Rotational inertia endows exponential memory to particle orientation, restricting its alteration and amplifying the effective persistence time. At lower spinning frequencies, the diffusion coefficient exhibits a peak function relative to rotational inertia for shorter persistence times, while it steadily increases with rotational inertia for longer persistence times. In the realm of high-frequency spinning, the impact of rotational inertia on diffusion behavior becomes more pronounced, resulting in a nonmonotonic and intricate relationship between the diffusion coefficient and rotational inertia. Consequently, the introduction of rotational inertia significantly alters the glassy dynamics of chiral active particles, allowing for the control over transitions between fluid and glassy states by modulating rotational inertia. Moreover, our findings indicate that at a specific spinning temperature, there exists an optimal spinning frequency at which the diffusion coefficient attains its maximum value.
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