Orientational properties of nematic disclinations

TL;DR

This paper defines the polarity of half-strength nematic disclinations, introduces a method to calculate it from data, and explores how their orientation influences their dynamics in liquid crystals.

Contribution

It provides a precise definition of disclination polarity, a robust calculation method, and insights into how orientation affects disclination dynamics in nematic liquid crystals.

Findings

Defined polarity for half-strength disclinations

Developed a method to calculate polarity from data

Analyzed how orientation impacts disclination dynamics

Abstract

Topological defects play a pivotal role in the physics of liquid crystals and represent one of the most prominent and well studied aspects of mesophases. While in two-dimensional nematics, disclinations are traditionally treated as point-like objects, recent experimental studies on active nematics have suggested that half-strength disclinations might in fact possess a polar structure. In this article, we provide a precise definition of polarity for half-strength nematic disclinations, we introduce a simple and robust method to calculate this quantity from experimental and numerical data and we investigate how the orientational properties of half-strength disclinations affect their relaxational dynamics.