Related papers: Field-induced motion of nematic disclinations
In 3D nematic liquid crystals, disclination lines have a range of geometric structures. Locally, they may resemble $+1/2$ or $-1/2$ defects in 2D nematic phases, or they may have 3D twist. Here, we analyze the structure in terms of the…
The motion of topological defects is an important feature of the dynamics of all liquid crystals, and is especially conspicuous in active liquid crystals. Understanding defect motion is a challenging theoretical problem, because the…
Analytical calculations of the dynamics of a curved domain wall in a nematic liquid crystal are performed. The core of the wall is assumed to form a cylinder, whose axis coincides with the direction of an external magnetic field. The…
Electrophoresis is the motion of particles relative to a surrounding fluid driven by a uniform electric field. In conventional electrophoresis, the electrophoretic velocity grows linearly with the applied field. Nonlinear effects with a…
Nematic liquid crystals can dramatically reconfigure under dynamic forcing, providing exciting opportunities in active matter. Here, we study a hybrid disk colloid rotated by an external field which generates a dynamic companion topological…
Nematic solids respond strongly to changes in ambient heat or light, significantly differently parallel and perpendicular to the director. This phenomenon is well characterized for uniform director fields, but not for defect textures. We…
Linear defects such as dislocations and disclinations in ordered materials attract foreign particles since they replace strong elastic distortions at the defect cores. In this work, we explore the behavior of isotropic droplets nucleating…
Recent experiments have found that applied electric fields can induce motion of skyrmions in chiral nematic liquid crystals. To understand the magnitude and direction of the induced motion, we develop a coarse-grained approach to describe…
We have studied the nucleation and the physical properties of a -1/2 wedge disclination line near the free surface of a confined nematic liquid crystal. The position of the disclination line has been related to the material parameters…
Defect dynamics in a thin active nematic layer is studied by asymptotic matching of solutions in the defect core and the far field. The analysis is facilitated by the correspondence between the 2D nematic and complex scalar field models.…
Disclinations lines play a key role in many physical processes, from the fracture of materials to the formation of the early universe. Achieving versatile control over disclinations is key to developing novel electro-optical devices,…
The spontaneous creation of disclinations is a defining characteristic of active nematics, which is rarely observed in equilibrium systems or other active matter systems. Thus, understanding the mechanics of disclinations is crucial for…
The role of applied fields on the structure of liquid crystals confined to shell geometries has been studied in past theoretical work, providing strategies to produce liquid crystal shells with controlled defect structure or valence.…
Topological defects play a pivotal role in the physics of liquid crystals and represent one of the most prominent and well studied aspects of mesophases. While in two-dimensional nematics, disclinations are traditionally treated as…
We study the motion of a charged particle under the action of a magnetic field with cylindrical symmetry. In particular we consider magnetic fields with constant direction and with magnitude depending on the distance $r$ from the symmetry…
Point defects such as interstitials, vacancies, and impurities in otherwise perfect crystals induce complex displacement fields that are of long-range nature. In the present paper we study numerically the response of a two-dimensional…
We study dynamical processes in a multi-domain (MD) structured nematic liquid crystal cell with a particular emphasis on the motion, creation and annihilation of disclinations. In the MD cell right- and left-handed director helices…
The properties of liquid crystals can be modelled using an order parameter which describes the variability of the local orientation of rod-like molecules. Defects in the director field can arise due to external factors such as applied…
Topological defects in elastic media may be described by a geometric field akin to three-dimensional gravity. From this point of view, disclinations are line defects of zero width corresponding to a singularity of the curvature in an…
We study ionic and mass transport in a liquid crystalline fluid film in its nematic phase under an applied electrostatic field. Both analytic and numerical solutions are given for some prototypical configurations of interest in…