Singular limits in polymer-stabilized liquid crystals

Author(s):  
P. Bauman ◽  
D. Phillips ◽  
Q. Shen

We investigate equilibrium configurations for a polymer-stabilized liquid-crystal material subject to an applied magnetic field. The configurations are determined by energy minimization, where the energies of the system include those of bulk, surface and external field. The Euler–Lagrange equation is a nonlinear partial differential equation with nonlinear boundary conditions defined on a perforated domain modelling the cross-section of the liquid-crystal–polymer-fibre composite. We analyse the critical values for the external magnetic field representing Fredericks transitions and describe the equilibrium configurations under any magnitude of the external field. We also discuss the limit of the critical values and configurations as the number of polymer fibres approaches infinity. In the case where, away from the boundary of the composite, the fibres are part of a periodic array, we prove that non-constant configurations develop order-one oscillations on the scale of the array's period. Furthermore, we determine the small-scale structure of the configurations as the period tends to zero.

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 748-762
Author(s):  
Carlo Greco

Abstract In a thin layer of liquid crystal the configuration of the director field depends on the interaction between the elastic properties of the material, the thickness $d$ of the layer, the boundary conditions and the external fields that may have been applied. Suitable combinations of these factors can give rise to distorted configurations (Freedericksz transitions). In this paper we assume the Oseen-Frank model for the energy and that the director field depends only on the direction orthogonal to the layer; we assume also weak anchoring conditions at the two bounding surfaces, and we mainly study the problem of uniqueness of such distorted configurations. More precisely, we first consider the nematic case in the presence of a magnetic field $\mathbf H$, and we prove the uniqueness of the stable configuration provided the magnitude of $\mathbf H$ is between two critical thresholds, simplifying some results already known in the literature, and calculating explicitly the critical thresholds. Then we study the case of a cholesteric liquid crystal without external field. In this case the director field tends to form a right-angle helicoid around a twist axis orthogonal to the layer, and we have distorted configurations (namely oblique helicoid) for suitable value of $d$. Also in this case, with suitable restrictions on the elastic constants in the Oseen-Frank energy, we find two critical thresholds for $d$, and we prove the existence of only one stable director configuration if $d$ is between them.


RSC Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (68) ◽  
pp. 41693-41702
Author(s):  
Yunho Shin ◽  
Jinghua Jiang ◽  
Guangkui Qin ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Ziyuan Zhou ◽  
...  

A polymer stabilized LC based light waveguide display is reported. Performance is improved by patterned photo-polymerization or electrode. It has high brightness, ultrafast switching time, high contrast ratio, and high transmittance for transparent and augmented displays.


2020 ◽  
Vol 712 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-23
Author(s):  
Marc-Antoine Boulé ◽  
Simon Rainville ◽  
Tigran Galstian

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 86-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Todd Hoeksema

AbstractThe almost stately evolution of the global heliospheric magnetic field pattern during most of the solar cycle belies the intense dynamic interplay of photospheric and coronal flux concentrations on scales both large and small. The statistical characteristics of emerging bipoles and active regions lead to development of systematic magnetic patterns. Diffusion and flows impel features to interact constructively and destructively, and on longer time scales they may help drive the creation of new flux. Peculiar properties of the components in each solar cycle determine the specific details and provide additional clues about their sources. The interactions of complex developing features with the existing global magnetic environment drive impulsive events on all scales. Predominantly new-polarity surges originating in active regions at low latitudes can reach the poles in a year or two. Coronal holes and polar caps composed of short-lived, small-scale magnetic elements can persist for months and years. Advanced models coupled with comprehensive measurements of the visible solar surface, as well as the interior, corona, and heliosphere promise to revolutionize our understanding of the hierarchy we call the solar magnetic field.


Soft Matter ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1279-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alena Antipova ◽  
Colin Denniston

We explain the motion of a micron-sized ferromagnetic disc immersed in a nematic liquid crystal under the action of a weak magnetic field using numerical simulations. We show that the disc's behaviour can be controlled by the angular speed of the magnetic field and its magnitude.


2013 ◽  
Vol 440 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannick J. L. Michaux ◽  
Anthony F. J. Moffat ◽  
André-Nicolas Chené ◽  
Nicole St-Louis

Abstract Examination of the temporal variability properties of several strong optical recombination lines in a large sample of Galactic Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars reveals possible trends, especially in the more homogeneous WC than the diverse WN subtypes, of increasing wind variability with cooler subtypes. This could imply that a serious contender for the driver of the variations is stochastic, magnetic subsurface convection associated with the 170 kK partial-ionization zone of iron, which should occupy a deeper and larger zone of greater mass in cooler WR subtypes. This empirical evidence suggests that the heretofore proposed ubiquitous driver of wind variability, radiative instabilities, may not be the only mechanism playing a role in the stochastic multiple small-scaled structures seen in the winds of hot luminous stars. In addition to small-scale stochastic behaviour, subsurface convection guided by a global magnetic field with localized emerging loops may also be at the origin of the large-scale corotating interaction regions as seen frequently in O stars and occasionally in the winds of their descendant WR stars.


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