Topological transition to rest in nematodynamics

Topological transition to rest in the electrohydrodynamics of nematics

G. Pucci, C. Versace and R. Barberi

Liquid Crystals, 2024.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02678292.2024.2386577

Some nematic liquid crystals undergo electro-convective instabilities if forced by a low-frequency oscillating electric field. When the forcing amplitude is increased, a series of bifurcations occurs, which correspond to increasing disorder and reduction of the size of the electro-convective rolls. At a threshold, a transition to an electrohydrodynamic state characterised by a high density of topological defects occurs. Here, we show that in some nematic mixtures this transition is replaced by a topological transition to rest, that is, the electrohydrodynamics are quenched by the nucleation of a state that is topologically non-equivalent to the initial texture of the nematic.