Related papers: Instability of point defects in a two-dimensional …
We report the observation of a doubly-periodic surface defect-pattern in the liquid crystal 8CB, formed during the nematic--smectic A phase transition. The pattern results from the antagonistic alignment of the 8CB molecules, which is…
We study the concept of "categorical symmetry" introduced recently, which in the most basic sense refers to a pair of dual symmetries, such as the Ising symmetries of the $1d$ quantum Ising model and its self-dual counterpart. In this…
Topological defects are a ubiquitous phenomenon in diverse physical systems. In nematic liquid crystals (LCs), they are dynamic, physicochemically distinct, sensitive to stimuli, and are thereby promising for a range of applications.…
We propose a general formalism to characterize orientational frustration of smectic liquid crystals in confinement by interpreting the emerging networks of grain boundaries as objects with a topological charge. In a formal idealization,…
Computer simulations are presented of the isotropic-to-nematic transition in a liquid crystal confined between two parallel plates a distance H apart. The plates are neutral and do not impose any anchoring on the particles. Depending on the…
We prove the existence and we study the stability of the kink-like fixed points in a simple Coupled Map Lattice for which the local dynamics has two stable fixed points. The condition for the existence allows us to define a critical value…
Global existence for weak solutions to systems of nematic liquid crystals, with non-constant fluid density has been established by several authors. In this paper, we establish the regularity and uniqueness results for solutions to the…
The problem of heterogeneous nucleation of second-phase in alloys in the vicinity of elastic defects is considered. The defect can be a dislocation line or a crack tip residing in a crystalline solid. We use the Ginzburg-Landau equation to…
Simulations of nematic-isotropic transition of liquid crystals in two dimensions are performed using an O(2) vector model characterised by non linear nearest neighbour spin interaction governed by the fourth Legendre polynomial $P\_4$. The…
We investigate the switching dynamics of multistable nematic liquid crystal devices. In particular we identify a remarkably simple 2-dimensional (2D) device which exploits hybrid alignment at the surfaces to yield a bistable response. We…
In this paper, we investigate the density-dependent incompressible nematic liquid crystal flows in $n(n=2$ or $3)$ dimensional bounded domain. More precisely, we obtain the local existence and uniqueness of the solutions when the viscosity…
A nematic liquid-crystal gel is a macroscopically homogeneous elastic medium with the rotational symmetry of a nematic liquid crystal. In this paper, we develop a general approach to the study of these gels that incorporates all underlying…
Liquids in systems with spherically symmetric interactions are not thermodynamically stable when the range of the attraction is reduced sufficiently. However, these metastable liquids have lifetimes long enough that they are readily…
We study nematic configurations within three-dimensional (3D) cuboids, with planar degenerate boundary conditions on the cuboid faces, in the Landau-de Gennes framework. There are two geometry-dependent variables: the edge length of the…
The study of liquid crystals at equilibrium has led to fundamental insights into the nature of ordered materials, as well as to practical applications such as display technologies. Active nematics are a fundamentally different class of…
Using high statistic numerical results we investigate the properties of the O(3) non-linear 2D sigma-model. Our main concern is the detection of an hypothetical Kosterlitz-Thouless-like (KT) phase transition which would contradict the…
We study nematic equilibria on rectangular domains, in a reduced two-dimensional Landau-de Gennes framework. These reduced equilibria carry over to the three-dimensional framework at a special temperature. There is one essential model…
We perform successive umbrella sampling grand canonical Monte Carlo computer simulations of the original ST2 model of water in the vicinity of the proposed liquid-liquid critical point, at temperatures above and below the critical…
Topological defects play a fundamental role in the investigation of symmetries in quantum field theories. For conformal field theories in two space-time dimensions, it is possible to construct these defects using lattice models allowing…
We study equilibrium configurations of nematic liquid crystals confined to two-dimensional isosceles triangles, subject to tangent boundary conditions. This toy problem is motivated by the effects of geometrical asymmetry on equilibria in…