Condensate formation in a chiral lattice gas

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Boyi Wang - , CAS - Institute of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (Author)
  • Frank Jülicher - , Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD), TUD Dresden University of Technology, Clusters of Excellence PoL: Physics of Life (Author)
  • Patrick Pietzonka - , Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, University of Edinburgh (Author)

Abstract

We investigate the formation of condensates in a binary lattice gas in the presence of chiral interactions. These interactions differ between a given microscopic configuration and its mirror image. We consider a two-dimensional lattice gas with nearest-neighbour interactions, to which we add interactions involving favoured local structures (FLSs) that are chiral. We focus on FLSs that have the shape of the letter L and explore condensate formation through simulations and analytical calculations. At low temperature, this model can exhibit four different phases that are characterised by different periodic tiling patterns, depending on the strength of interactions and the chemical potential. When particle numbers are conserved, some of these phases can coexist. We analyse the structure and surface tension of interfaces between coexisting phases and determine the shapes of minimal free energy of crystalline condensates. We show that these shapes can be quadrilaterals or octagons of different orientation and symmetry.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number093031
JournalNew journal of physics
Volume26
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • chirality, condensates, lattice gas, phase transitions, statistical mechanics