Hierarchical ground-state crystals underlying Hertzian quasicrystals.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41290679.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-66158-0 and PMC identifier 12717090.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
As a simple physics model for crystal and quasicrystal formation, the Hertzian potential describes the interaction between two soft-core colloidal particles. However, explaining why quasicrystals emerge in such a minimal model remains a theoretical challenge. Here, using analytically exact approaches, we reveal multiple layers of hierarchical crystal patterns that serve as the energy ground states underlying quasicrystals found by computer simulations. Our findings offer a new perspective on quasicrystal formation.