Nematic Films and Radially Anisotropic Delaunay Surfaces

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical framework for axisymmetric nematic films that minimize combined surface tension and elastic energies, revealing new bubble shapes and classical analogues influenced by elastic and tension parameters.

Contribution

It introduces a novel theory of nematic films incorporating elastic and tension effects, predicting new equilibrium shapes beyond classical surfaces.

Findings

Identification of analogues of unduloid, sphere, and nodoid shapes.

Prediction of new surface shapes influenced by elastic constants and tension.

Extension of classical surface theory to nematic elastic films.

Abstract

We develop a theory of axisymmetric surfaces minimizing a combination of surface tension and nematic elastic energies which may be suitable for describing simple film and bubble shapes. As a function of the elastic constant and the applied tension on the bubbles, we find the analogues of the unduloid, sphere, and nodoid in addition to other new surfaces.