High-order elastic multipoles as colloidal atoms

Achieving and exceeding diversity of colloidal analogs of chemical elements and molecules as building blocks of matter has been the central goal and challenge of colloidal science ever since Einstein introduced the colloidal atom paradigm. Recent advances in colloids assembly have been achieved by exploiting the machinery of DNA hybridization but robust physical means of defining colloidal elements remain limited. Here we introduce physical design principles allowing us to define high-order elastic multipoles emerging when colloids with controlled shapes and surface alignment are introduced into a nematic host fluid. Combination of experiments and numerical modeling of equilibrium field configurations using a spherical harmonic expansion allow us to probe elastic multipole moments, bringing analogies with electromagnetism and a structure of atomic orbitals. We show that, at least in view of the symmetry of the “director wiggle wave functions,” diversity of elastic colloidal atoms can far exceed that of known chemical elements.