Thermodynamic stability of quasicrystals: From fluid dynamics to soft condensed matter

Quasicrystals were observed for many years only as solid-state metallic alloys, yet their more recent observation in soft condensed-matter has provided new insight into the ongoing quest to understand their formation and thermodynamic stability. I shall explain the stability of certain soft-matter quasicrystals, using surprisingly simple classical field theories, by making an analogy to the fluid dynamics phenomenon of Faraday waves. This will provide a recipe for designing pair potentials that yield crystals with symmetries ranging from tetragonal and hexagonal to decagonal, dodecagonal, and even icosahedral.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85054368750