Threading the Needle: Generating Textures in Nematics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to control and sculpt the Hopf fibration texture in nematic liquid crystals by manipulating point defects, revealing topological relationships with torons using advanced visualization techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a method for controlled texture sculpting in nematic liquid crystals and links topological structures to defects through novel visualization.

Findings

Controlled creation of Hopf fibration textures in nematics

Topological visualization of defects and torons

Demonstration of texture sculpting techniques

Abstract

The Hopf fibration is an example of a texture: a topologically stable, smooth, global configuration of a field. Here we demonstrate the controlled sculpting of the Hopf fibration in nematic liquid crystals through the control of point defects. We demonstrate how these are related to torons by use of a topological visualization technique derived from the Pontryagin-Thom construction.