Twist disclinations in elastically anisotropic nematic liquid crystals

Abstract

The influence of elastic anisotropy on twist disclinations in nematic liquid crystals has been considered. It is shown that anisotropy alters the structure as well as the energy of disclinations. The problem is exactly solvable when there is twist anisotropy only. i. e., K₁₁=K₃₃≠K₂₂. When there is pure splay-bend anisotropy one can get the leading corrections to the structure and energy through a perturbation technique. The properties of twist and wedge disclinations in the presence of anisotropy have also been compared. Elastic anisotropy influences +s and −s disclinations differently in the case of wedge disclinations, but not so in the case of twist disclinations. For pure splay-bend anisotropy, twist disclinations have, in general, a higher energy than wedge disclinations. This may partly account for the absence of twist disclinations in nematic liquid crystals.