Spontaneous Chirality in Simple Systems

Galen T. Pickett, Mark Gross, and Hiroko Okuyama
Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3652 – Published 23 October 2000
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Abstract

Two simple examples of spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking are presented. The first is close-packed cylindrically confined spheres. As the cylinder diameter is varied, one obtains a variety of chiral phases. The second example involves unconfined dipolar particles with an isotropic attraction, which also exhibits chiral ground states. We speculate that a dilute magnetorheological fluid film, with the addition of smaller particles to provide an attractive entropic interaction, will exhibit a chiral columnar ground state.

  • Received 6 March 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.3652

©2000 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Galen T. Pickett, Mark Gross, and Hiroko Okuyama

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Long Beach, California 90840

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Issue

Vol. 85, Iss. 17 — 23 October 2000

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