Coupling of nematic in-plane orientational ordering and equilibrium shapes of closed flexible nematic shells

Autor: Luka Mesarec, Wojciech Góźdź, Veronika Kralj-Iglič, Samo Kralj, Aleš Iglič
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 13, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-37664-2
Popis: Abstract The impact of the intrinsic curvature of in-plane orientationally ordered curved flexible nematic molecules attached to closed 3D flexible shells was studied numerically. A Helfrich-Landau-de Gennes-type mesoscopic approach was adopted where the flexible shell’s curvature field and in-plane nematic field are coupled and concomitantly determined in the process of free energy minimisation. We demonstrate that this coupling has the potential to generate a rich diversity of qualitatively new shapes of closed 3D nematic shells and the corresponding specific in-plane orientational ordering textures, which strongly depend on the shell’s volume-to-surface area ratio, so far not predicted in mesoscopic-type numerical studies of 3D shapes of closed flexible nematic shells.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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