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Knotted defects in nematic liquid crystals
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Machon, Thomas and Alexander, Gareth P. (2014) Knotted defects in nematic liquid crystals. Physical Review Letters, Volume 113 (Number 2). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.027801
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.027801
Abstract
We show that the number of distinct topological states associated with a given knotted defect, L, in a nematic liquid crystal is equal to the determinant of the link L. We give an interpretation of these states, demonstrate how they may be identified in experiments, and describe the consequences for material behavior and interactions between multiple knots. We show that stable knots can be created in a bulk cholesteric and illustrate the topology by classifying a simulated Hopf link. In addition, we give a topological heuristic for the resolution of strand crossings in defect coarsening processes which allows us to distinguish topological classes of a given link and to make predictions about defect crossings in nematic liquid crystals.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science > Physics | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Physical Review Letters | ||||||
Publisher: | American Physical Society | ||||||
ISSN: | 0031-9007 | ||||||
Official Date: | 9 July 2014 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Volume 113 | ||||||
Number: | Number 2 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.027801 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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