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<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Dear enthusiasts of the SLAAM seminars,</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">The next <a href="https://physics.ucmerced.edu/slaam" target="_blank" title="https://physics.ucmerced.edu/slaam">Soft Living Active and Adaptive Matter (SLAAM)</a> seminar will begin soon!
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">The talk will be given by <b>Dr. </b></span></span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Biswarup Ash</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> (Weizmann Institute)<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black"> </span></span><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="color:black">on <b>Monday, August
7, </b>at <b>9am Pacific/11am Central/12 noon Eastern time (US)</b>, with the title:</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#242424">“</span></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Tunable three-dimensional architecture of nematic disclination lines”</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Please join at the link below to attend:</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><a href="https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/92693607475?pwd=TnI5dDhRRnYvejNZK2xNN0s4M0R5UT09" target="_blank" title="https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/92693607475?pwd=TnI5dDhRRnYvejNZK2xNN0s4M0R5UT09">https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/92693607475?pwd=TnI5dDhRRnYvejNZK2xNN0s4M0R5UT09</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Zoom Meeting ID: 926 9360 7475 | Passcode: 223642</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">As usual, there will be a 15 min informal Q&A at the end of the hour. Graduate students will have an opportunity to interact with the speaker in an informal setting during the "Meet the speaker" timeslot just after
the talk. Please join if the time works for you.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#242424">Please see more info in the flyer<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://physics.ucmerced.edu/sites/physics.ucmerced.edu/files/event/SLAAM/biswarup_ash_slaam.pdf" title="https://physics.ucmerced.edu/sites/physics.ucmerced.edu/files/documents/pintu_patra_slaam87.pdf">here</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and
in the text below:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Abstract</span></b></span><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">: Topological defects are universal patterns of nature. Nematic liquid crystals- fluid-like
materials with long-range orientational molecular order- are ideal test beds for studying topological defects, particularly one-dimensional, linear disclinations. Disclination lines in nematic liquid crystal systems often exhibit intricate spatial structures
with nontrivial morphology. Achieving versatile control over disclinations is critical to developing novel electro-optical devices, programmable origami, directed colloidal assembly, and controlling active matter. In this talk, I will discuss a theoretical
framework enabling us to tailor three-dimensional disclination architecture in nematic liquid crystals. We produce quantitative predictions for the connectivity and shape of disclination lines found in nematic liquid crystals confined between two thinly spaced
glass substrates with strong patterned planar anchoring. By drawing an analogy between nematic liquid crystals and magnetostatics, we find that i) disclination lines connect defects with the same topological charge on opposite surfaces and ii) disclination
lines are attracted to regions of the highest twist. We identify critical parameters that tune the disclination lines’ curvature. Our theoretical findings corroborate the numerical and experimental observations. Our work provides a powerful method to understand
and practically control defect lines in nematic liquid crystals.</span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#242424"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Speaker bio</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black;background:white">Dr. Ash obtained his Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)-Kolkata, India, under the supervision of Prof. Amit Ghosal. In
his Ph.D. thesis, he studied the role of interaction and disorder in understanding the static and dynamic responses of ‘Wigner molecules’- two-dimensional systems of Coulomb interacting particles in traps- across thermal crossover from an amorphous solid-
to liquid-like behaviors. His main objective was to understand how some of the characteristic features of glassy systems emerge in confined systems with lower spatial symmetries and long-range interactions. After finishing his Ph.D., he joined the condensed
matter physics department of the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), Israel, as a postdoctoral research fellow. Here, he studied the thermal transport in low dimensional disordered systems with Prof. Yoseph Imry and Prof. Yuval Oreg. Subsequently, he moved
to the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at WIS to work with Prof. Hillel Aharoni. His current research focuses on understanding the properties of topological defects in liquid crystal systems.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> </span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;background:white"><span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">See you there! </span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Best regards,</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Dan Beller</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">on behalf of the SLAAM organizing team</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><br>
<span class="contentpasted0">(Alexandra Tayar, Suraj Shankar, Daniel Beller, Kinjal Dasbiswas)</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span class="contentpasted0"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">To join the SLAAM mailing list, please sign up <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_forms_d_e_1FAIpQLScTyzEuuE7TfrrapgP4tzN-5FoPSqbBhURUxa9-2Dzc8USnY1IPzA_viewform&d=DwMFAw&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=6T170XR90Za4-nl9r1e8-WfEJbvH5g5hJbA9UumqfWQ&m=NK4EGo1VvrDiYSxdvOUJXgCkEAzTrQzNpQi-P59LZiKL_lMA3briJm9KQh9Y3suN&s=3hc1lEhiJwBLtMEr12Z9K5XtZaVlEfOZKYXGtXCjRDg&e=" target="_blank" title="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_forms_d_e_1FAIpQLScTyzEuuE7TfrrapgP4tzN-5FoPSqbBhURUxa9-2Dzc8USnY1IPzA_viewform&d=DwMFAw&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=6T170XR90Za4-nl9r1e8-WfEJbvH5g5hJbA9UumqfWQ&m=NK4EGo1VvrDiYSxdvOUJXgCk">here</a>. If
you’re a postdoc interested in giving a SLAAM talk, we invite you to register your interest on that webform.</span></i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Daniel Beller</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Assistant Professor</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Department of Physics and Astronomy</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Johns Hopkins University</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">pages.jh.edu/dbeller3</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">(he/him/his)</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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