Disclination asymmetry in two-dimensional nematic liquid crystals with unequal Frank constants.
نویسنده
چکیده
The behavior of a thin film of nematic liquid crystal with unequal Frank constants is discussed. Distinct Frank constants are found to imply unequal core energies for +1/2 and −1/2 disclinations. Even so, a topological constraint is shown to ensure that the bulk densities of the two types of disclinations are the same. For a system with free boundary conditions, such as a liquid membrane, unequal core energies simply renormalize the Gaussian rigidity and line tension. Typeset using REVTEX 1
منابع مشابه
Disclination elastica model of loop collision and growth in confined nematic liquid crystals.
Theory and modeling are used to characterize disclination loop-loop interactions in nematic liquid crystals under capillary confinement with strong homeotropic anchoring. This defect process arises when a mesogen in the isotropic phase is quenched into the stable nematic state. The texture evolution starts with +1/2 disclination loops that merge into a single loop through a process that involve...
متن کاملDirector configuration of planar solitons in nematic liquid crystals
The director configuration of disclination lines in nematic liquid crystals in the presence of an external magnetic field is evaluated. Our method is a combination of a polynomial expansion for the director and of further analytical approximations which are tested against a numerical shooting method. The results are particularly simple when the elastic constants are equal, but we discuss the ge...
متن کاملElastic Properties of Nematic Liquid Crystals Formed by Living and Migrating Cells
In culture migrating and interacting amoeboid cells can form nematic liquid crystal phases. A polar nematic liquid crystal is formed if the interaction has a polar symmetry. One type of white blood cells (granulocytes) form clusters where the cells are oriented towards the center. The core of such an orientational defect (disclination) is either a granulocyte forced to be in an isotropic state ...
متن کاملA non-traditional view on the modeling of nematic disclination dynamics
Nonsingular disclination dynamics in a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal is modeled within a mathematical framework where the kinematics is a direct extension of the classical way of identifying these line defects with singularities of a unit vector field representing the nematic director. It is well known that the universally accepted Oseen-Frank energy is infinite for configurations that contai...
متن کاملColloidal aggregation in a nematic liquid crystal: topological arrest of particles by a single-stroke disclination line.
We numerically study many-body interactions among colloidal particles suspended in a nematic liquid crystal, using a fluid particle dynamics method, which properly incorporates dynamical coupling among particles, nematic orientation, and flow field. Based on simulation results, we propose a new type of interparticle interaction in addition to well-known quadrupolar interaction for particles acc...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics
دوره 54 6 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 1996