Three-Dimensional Active Liquid Crystals: Defects and Topology

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Active matter is a class of materials in which the individual constituents continually consume energy to generate work or motion, maintaining dynamic, non-equilibrium states. These systems are providing fundamental insight into nonequilibrium physics and a framework for the interface between physics and biology. The focus to date has been on two-dimensional active systems, although recent experiments have begun to emerge also in three dimensions. In this project we will develop the theoretical understanding of three-dimensional active liquid crystals, with focus on their topological defects, soliton structures and geometric characteristics. We will combine analytical descriptions of defect loops and the active flows they generate with numerical solutions of the full non-linear hydrodynamic equations to establish their dynamic properties, instabilities and phase behaviour. These insights will allow us to extend the existing connections between active liquid crystals and living systems to bulk three-dimensional cell structures, tissues and their morphology