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Field-induced motion of nematic disclinations

Field-induced motion of nematic disclinations
Field-induced motion of nematic disclinations
An individual defect in a nematic liquid crystal moves not only in response to its interaction with other defects but also in response to external fields. We analyze the motion of a wedge disclination in the presence of an applied field of strength H. We neglect backflow and seek steadily traveling patterns. The stationary picture yields a semi-infinite wall of strength ?, bounded by the defect line. We find that the disclination advances into the region containing the wall at velocity v(H), where v scales as H/|log H| as long as the magnetic coherence length is greater than the core radius. When the external field is applied in the presence of a pair of disclinations, their dynamics is strongly influenced. We compute the expected relative velocity of the disclinations as a function of distance and field. The natural tendency for the disclinations to annihilate each other can be overcome by a sufficiently strong field suitably directed.
nematic liquid crystals, dynamics, ?-walls
0036-1399
2141-2157
Biscari, Paolo
352c91ab-eed3-4578-97c6-a3830bcb90c6
Sluckin, Timothy J.
8dbb6b08-7034-4ae2-aa65-6b80072202f6
Biscari, Paolo
352c91ab-eed3-4578-97c6-a3830bcb90c6
Sluckin, Timothy J.
8dbb6b08-7034-4ae2-aa65-6b80072202f6

Biscari, Paolo and Sluckin, Timothy J. (2005) Field-induced motion of nematic disclinations. SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, 65 (6), 2141-2157. (doi:10.1137/040618898).

Record type: Article

Abstract

An individual defect in a nematic liquid crystal moves not only in response to its interaction with other defects but also in response to external fields. We analyze the motion of a wedge disclination in the presence of an applied field of strength H. We neglect backflow and seek steadily traveling patterns. The stationary picture yields a semi-infinite wall of strength ?, bounded by the defect line. We find that the disclination advances into the region containing the wall at velocity v(H), where v scales as H/|log H| as long as the magnetic coherence length is greater than the core radius. When the external field is applied in the presence of a pair of disclinations, their dynamics is strongly influenced. We compute the expected relative velocity of the disclinations as a function of distance and field. The natural tendency for the disclinations to annihilate each other can be overcome by a sufficiently strong field suitably directed.

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More information

Published date: 2005
Keywords: nematic liquid crystals, dynamics, ?-walls

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 29602
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/29602
ISSN: 0036-1399
PURE UUID: d0620545-6bfc-4f89-bc27-6c60231e6f7e
ORCID for Timothy J. Sluckin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9163-0061

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Date deposited: 11 May 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:32

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Author: Paolo Biscari

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