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Colloquium: Disclination loops, point defects, and all that in nematic liquid crystals

Gareth P. Alexander, Bryan Gin-ge Chen, Elisabetta A. Matsumoto, and Randall D. Kamien*

Gareth P. Alexander

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA, and
  • Centre for Complexity Science and Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom

Bryan Gin-ge Chen

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

Elisabetta A. Matsumoto

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
  • Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

Randall D. Kamien*

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 209 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA

  • *kamien@physics.upenn.edu
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Rev. Mod. Phys. 84, 497 – Published 9 April, 2012Erratum Rev. Mod. Phys. 84, 1229 (2012)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.84.497

Abstract

The homotopy theory of topological defects is a powerful tool for organizing and unifying many ideas across a broad range of physical systems. Recently, experimental progress was made in controlling and measuring colloidal inclusions in liquid crystalline phases. The topological structure of these systems is quite rich but, at the same time, subtle. Motivated by experiment and the power of topological reasoning, the classification of defects in uniaxial nematic liquid crystals was reviewed and expounded upon. Particular attention was paid to the ambiguities that arise in these systems, which have no counterpart in the much-storied XY model or the Heisenberg ferromagnet.

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Corrections

25 June, 2012

Erratum

Publisher’s Note: Colloquium: Disclination loops, point defects, and all that in nematic liquid crystals [Rev. Mod. Phys.RMPHAT0034-6861 84, 497 (2012)]

Gareth P. Alexander, Bryan Gin-ge Chen, Elisabetta A. Matsumoto, and Randall D. Kamien
Rev. Mod. Phys. 84, 1229 (2012)

Article Text

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Rev. Mod. Phys. 84, 497– Published 9 April, 2012
  • Received 6 July 2011
  • Publisher error corrected 25 June 2012

© 2012 American Physical Society

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