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SUMMARY:Topological defects in nematic liquid crystals dictated by topolog
 ically nontrivial confinement and colloids - Smalyukh\, I (University of C
 olorado at Boulder)
DTSTART:20130507T130000Z
DTEND:20130507T140000Z
UID:TALK45156@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mustapha Amrani
DESCRIPTION:Well known approaches for inducing topological defects in nema
 tics include geometric confinement of the liquid crystalline material into
  spherical droplets and also the use of colloidal microspheres dispersed i
 n the bulk of a uniformly aligned liquid crystal. In both cases\, topologi
 cal defects appear to assure the topological charge conservation while com
 pensating for the topological charges due well-defined boundary conditions
  at the surfaces of droplets and particles. This lecture will discuss the 
 topology-dictated generation of defects in liquid crystals confined into t
 opologically nontrivial handlebody-shaped pores and droplets as well as wh
 en topologically nontrivial colloidal microparticles are introduced into a
 n aligned liquid crystal. Furthermore\, it will be shown that stable hiera
 rchical arrays of defects in confined chiral nematic liquid crystals can b
 e generated and controlled using optical vortex laser beams. Experimental 
 studies will be compared with the results of numerical modeling.\n\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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