[1] G. Napoli and S. Paparini, Nematic bubbles and the breaking of spherical symmetry. Proc. R. Soc. A 482: 20260196 (2026).
[2] S. Paparini (invited), A Review on Phenomenological Models for Chromonic Liquid Crystals, Liq. Cryst. Today, 34, 1 (2026), doi: 10.1080/1358314X.2025.2600206.
[3] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Singular Damped Twist Waves in Chromonic Liquid Crystals, J. Nonlinear Sci. 35, 118 (2025), doi:10.1007/s00332-025-10217-9.
[4] S. Paparini, G. G. Giusteri and L. A. Mihai, Shape Instabilities Driven by Topological Defects in Nematic Polymer Networks, J. Elast. 157, 69 (2025), doi: 10.1007/s10659-025-10160-6.
[5] A. Giacomini and S. Paparini, A shape optimization problem for nematic and cholesteric liquid crystal drops, ESAIM: COCV 31, 47 (2025), doi: 10.1051/cocv/2025032.
[6] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Singular Twist Waves in Chromonics, Wave Motion 134, 103486 (2025), doi: 10.1016/j.wavemoti.2024.103486.
[7] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, What a twist cell experiment tells about a quartic twist theory for chromonics, Liq. Cryst., 51(6), 993 (2024), doi: 10.1080/02678292.2024.2324465.
[8] F. Ciuchi, M. P. De Santo, S. Paparini, L. Spina and E. G. Virga, Inversion Ring in Chromonic Twisted Hedgehogs: Theory and Experiment, Liq. Cryst. 51(13–14), 2381 (2024), doi: 10.1080/02678292.2024.2313023.
[9] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Geometric method to determine planar anchoring strength for chromonics, Phys. Rev. E 108, 064701 (2023), doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.108.064701.
[10] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Spiralling defect cores in chromonic hedgehogs, Liq. Cryst. 50, 1498 (2023), doi: 10.1080/02678292.2023.2190626.
[11] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, An Elastic Quartic Twist Theory for Chromonic Liquid Crystals, J. Elast., 1173 (2023), doi: 10.1007/s10659-022-09983-4.
[12] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Paradoxes for chromonic liquid crystal droplets, Phys. Rev. E 106, 044703 (2022), doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.106.044703.
[13] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Stability Against the Odds: The Case of Chromonic Liquid Crystals, J. Nonlinear Sci. 32, 74 (2022), doi: 10.1007/s00332-022-09833-6.
[14] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Shape Bistability in Squeezed Chromonic Droplets, J. Phys. Condens Matter 33, 495101 (2021), doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/ac2645.
[15] S. Paparini and E. G. Virga, Nematic tactoid population, Phys. Rev. E 103, 022707 (2021), doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.103.022707.
Submitted Preprint:
[1] S. Paparini, G. G. Giusteri and L. A. Mihai, Morphogenesis driven by nematic defects in active biological networks, arXiv.2606.04256.
Main Research Interests:
My research concerns the application of mechanics, analysis and topology to the mathematical understanding of soft matter. More precisely, my research deals with the mathematical modelling of liquid crystals (LCs), Liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) and nematic deformable surfaces in the quest to develop a deeper understanding of these fascinating areas of soft matter.
In the nematic phase, LCs flow like liquids while retaining orientational order, and their sensitivity to external stimuli offers promising applications in both industry and life sciences. Their complex behavior, however, poses challenging mathematical problems at the interface between elasticity, analysis, and geometry. My research develops mathematical tools based on calculus of variations to determine energy-minimising configurations and analyze their stability, topology to study knotting structures, and partial differential equations (PDEs) to analyze nonlinear wave phenomena. I use these tools, together with continuum and geometric modeling, to study: (a) complex patterns and topological defects (TDs) in fixed geometries; (b) free-boundary problems for LC droplets whose shape and boundary energy depend on molecular orientation; (c) free-discontinuity problems extending these models to domains with internal boundaries; (d) mesoscopic modeling of LCs and complex solids; (e) geometric estimates of physical quantities; (f) nonlinear hyperbolic equations governing twist waves and finite-time shock formation; (g) Shape Instabilities driven by topological defects in NPNs, addressing the open question of modeling theoretically the coupling between LC defects and polymeric network; (h) symmetry-breaking equilibrium morphologies of nematic bubbles below the isotropic-nematic transition temperature.
Building on this expertise, I now aim to develop mathematical models of active soft matter and active morphogenesis. This lays the groundwork for mathematically modelling active morphogenesis, which is the purpose of my research plan.