Premium
Smectic A liquid crystal configurations with interface defects
Author(s) -
Calderer M. Carme,
Liu Chun,
Voss Karl
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
mathematical methods in the applied sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1099-1476
pISSN - 0170-4214
DOI - 10.1002/mma.221
Subject(s) - conic section , wedge (geometry) , planar , liquid crystal , funnel , concentric , texture (cosmology) , surface energy , geometry , mathematics , materials science , optics , physics , computer science , mechanical engineering , composite material , image (mathematics) , artificial intelligence , computer graphics (images) , engineering
We study planar energy minimizing configurations of smectic A liquid crystal materials and classify the corresponding defect structures. We investigate focal conic configurations in wedge, non‐parallel plates, funnel‐shaped domains, and non‐concentric annuli. The application of the stability condition for focal conics is relevant to the specification of the location of the interfacial defects. Self‐similar structures are discussed for a class of solutions with the same bulk energy. We propose surface energies terms to serve as selection mechanisms of particular self‐similar configurations. We also show how the modelling of chevron texture naturally arises in the present framework. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.