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Abstract

Recent experiments demonstrated the emergence of regular mesoscopic patterns when liquid droplets form in an elastic gel after cooling. These patterns appeared via a continuous transition and were smaller in stiffer systems. We capture these observations with a phenomenological equilibrium model describing the density field of the elastic component to account for phase separation. We show that local elasticity theories are insufficient, even if they allow large shear deformations. Instead, we can account for key observations using a nonlocal elasticity theory to capture the gel’s structure. Analytical approximations unveil that the pattern period is determined by the geometric mean between the elastocapillary length and a nonlocality scale. Our theory highlights the importance of nonlocal elasticity in soft matter systems, reveals the mechanism of this mesoscopic pattern, and will improve the engineering of such systems.