title: Principles of thermal design with nematic liquid crystals.
abstract: Highly engineered materials are arousing great interest because of their ability to manipulate heat, as described by the coordinate transformation approach. Based on recently developed analog gravity models, we present how a simple device based on nematic liquid crystals can achieve in principle either thermal concentration or expulsion. These outcomes are shown to stem from the topological properties of a disclination-like structure, induced in the nematic phase by anchoring conditions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Énergétique et de Mécanique Théorique et Appliquée, CNRS UMR 7563, Nancy Université, 54506 Vandœuvre Cedex, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fumeron
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Campus A.C. Simões, 57072-900 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, CCEN, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Caixa Postal 5008, 58051-970 João Pessoa, PB, Brazil.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moraes