| dc.description.abstract | For liquids in a tight gap, the two flat boundaries can suppress transverse particle motion and induce layered structure. Nevertheless, regardless of the past intensive studies on the micro-structure, micro-motion, and viscoelastic response deviating from those of the bulk liquid, the layering dynamics in its transient relaxation after quenching remains an elusive challenging issue, especially from the perspective of screw dislocations.
Screw dislocations (SDs) are filament-like topological defects winded around by helical fronts. They are omnipresent in layered systems such as layered solids and weakly disordered traveling waves. Nevertheless, the generic
dynamical behaviors of SDs remain elusive because the former usually exhibit frozen dynamics and high wave speed, while the latter makes them difficult to observe.
Here, using the confined liquid after quenching as a platform, we numerically demonstrate the observation of spontaneously generated SDs with unfrozen dynamics in the transient relaxation of confinement-induced layering;
and unravel their generic dynamical behaviors and topological origins. It is found that the total number of SDs decreases and levels off with increasing time after
quenching. The spatiotemporal growth and decay of layer undulation instability, which causes the layer kinking/rupturing/reconnection, play a crucial role in
forming fluctuating SD loops or strings of connected SD filaments (SDFs) with alternative helicities. In addition, the breaking/reconnection of approaching SDFs with opposite or same helicities leads to the formation of new separated
SDFs, resulting in the shedding or pinching of SD loops. | en_US |