Molecular simulation and theory of a liquid crystalline disclination core
Molecular simulations of a nematic liquid crystal confined in cylinder geometry with homeotropic anchoring have been carried out. The core structure of a disclination line defect of strength +1 has been examined, and comparison made with various theoretical treatments, which are presented in a unified way. It is found that excellent fits to the cylindrically symmetrized order tensor profiles may be obtained with appropriate parameter choices; notwithstanding this, on the time scales of the simulation, the cylindrical symmetry of the core is broken and two defects of strength +1 / 2 may be resolved.
Andrienko
D
H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Royal Fort, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, United Kingdom.
Allen
MP