ABSTRACT We study numerically curvature and electric field driven domain formation and reorientations in two-dimensional nematic liquid crystals within square confinement. We use the Landau-de Gennes description in terms of the nematic tensor order parameter. We show that on increasing the amplitude of a sinusoidally shaped confining wall, pairs {defect, antidefect} are formed, which enable insertion of domains displaying significantly different average orientational order with respect to the surrounding nematic body. Furthermore, we study E-driven transformation between two competing degenerate domain-type structures. We show that transformations could be mediated via qualitatively different intermediate structures possessing topological defects. Graphical Abstract

中文翻译：

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拓扑缺陷使向列域的形成成为可能

摘要 我们研究了方形限制内二维向列液晶中曲率和电场驱动的畴形成和重新定向的数值。我们根据向列张量顺序参数使用 Landau-de Gennes 描述。我们表明，在增加正弦形限制壁的幅度时，会形成对 {defect, antidefect}，这使得插入的域显示出相对于周围向列体显着不同的平均取向顺序。此外，我们研究了两个相互竞争的退化域类型结构之间的 E 驱动转换。我们表明，可以通过具有拓扑缺陷的性质不同的中间结构来介导转换。图形概要