Galactic nuclei are the densest stellar environments in the Universe. Recent electromagnetic observations of the Galactic center
revealed interesting structures including counter-rotating disks of massive stars embedded in the spherical stellar cluster. In this
talk, I will show that these structures can be naturally explained by methods commonly used in condensed matter physics. The long-term
gravitational interaction between stars and compact objects resembles the interaction of liquid crystals, which can exhibit phase
transitions. I will present the results of state of the art simulations which utilize this tantalizing connection and discuss the
implications. Disks of stars and black holes may be common in galactic nuclei which may provide the most abundant sources of
gravitational waves for LIGO and VIRGO.
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