| Description |
1 online resource |
| Summary |
This book on liquid crystals reports on the new perspectives that have been brought about by the recent expansion of frontiers and overhaul of common beliefs. First, it explores the interaction of light with mesophases, when the light or matter is endowed with topological defects. It goes on to show how electrophoresis, electro-osmosis and the swimming of flagellated bacteria are affected by the anisotropic properties of liquid crystals. It also reports on the recent progress in the understanding of thermomechanical and thermohydrodynamical effects in cholesterics and deformed nematics and refutes the common belief that these effects could explain Lehmann's observations of the rotation of cholesteric droplets subjected to a temperature gradient. It then studies the physics of the dowser texture, which has remarkable properties. This is of particular interest in regards to nematic monopoles, which can easily be generated, set into motion and collided within it. Finally, this book deals with the spontaneous emergence of chirality in nematics made of achiral molecules, and provides a brief historical context of chirality. |
| Contents |
Cover -- Half-Title Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Singular Optics of Liquid Crystal Defects -- 1.1. Prelude from carrots -- 1.2. Liquid crystals, optics and defects: a long-standing trilogy -- 1.3. Polarization optics of liquid crystals: basic ingredients -- 1.3.1. The few liquid crystal phases at play in this chapter -- 1.3.2. Liquid crystals anisotropy and its main optical consequence -- 1.3.3. Polarization state representation in the paraxial regime -- 1.3.4. Polarization state evolution through uniform director fields -- 1.3.5. Effective birefringence -- 1.4. Liquid crystal reorientation under external fields -- 1.5. Customary optics from liquid crystal defects -- 1.5.1. Localized defects structures in frustrated cholesteric films -- 1.5.2. Elongated defects structures in frustrated cholesteric films -- 1.5.3. Regular optics from other topological structures -- 1.5.4. Assembling photonic building blocks with liquid crystal defects -- 1.6. From regular to singular optics -- 1.6.1. What is singular optics? -- 1.6.2. A nod to liquid crystal defects -- 1.6.3. Singular paraxial light beams -- 1.6.4. Generic singular beam shaping strategies -- 1.7. Advent of self-engineered singular optical elements enabled by liquid crystals defects -- 1.7.1. Optical vortices from a cholesteric slab: dynamic phase option -- 1.7.2. Optical vortices from a nematic droplet: geometric phase option -- 1.8. Singular optical functions based on defects: a decade of advances -- 1.8.1. Custom-made singular dynamic phase diffractive -- 1.8.2. Spontaneous singular geometric phase optics -- 1.8.3. Directed self-engineered geometric phase optics -- 1.8.4. From single to arrays of optical vortices -- 1.9. Emerging optical functionalities enabled by liquid crystal defects -- 1.9.1. Spectrally and spatially adaptive optical vortex coronagraphy. |
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4.9.6. Trajectories of dowsons observed in polarized light -- 4.10. Collisions of dowsons -- 4.10.1. Pair of dowsons (d+,d-) inserted in a wound up dowser field -- 4.10.2. Cross-section for annihilation of dowsons' pairs -- 4.10.3. Rheotropic control of the collisions outcome -- 4.11. Motions of dowsons in homogeneous fields -- 4.12. Stabilization of dowsons systems by inhomogeneous fields with defects -- 4.12.1. Gedanken experiment -- 4.12.2. Triplet of dowsons stabilized in MBBA by a quadrupolar electric field -- 4.12.3. Septet of dowsons in MBBA stabilized by a quadrupolar electric field -- 4.12.4. Dowsons d+ stabilized by corner singularities of the electric field -- 4.13. Dowser field submitted to boundary conditions with more complex geometries and topologies -- 4.13.1. Ground state of the dowser field in an annular droplet -- 4.13.2. Wound up metastable states of the dowser field in the annular droplet -- 4.13.3. Dowser field in a square network of channels, four-arm junctions -- 4.13.4. Triangular network, six-arm junctions -- 4.13.5. Three-arm junctions -- 4.13.6. General discussion of n-arm junctions -- 4.14. Flow-induced bowson-dowson transformation -- 4.15. Instability of the dowson's d- position in the stagnation point -- 4.16. Appendix 1: equation of motion of the dowser field -- 4.16.1. Elastic torque -- 4.16.2. Viscous torques -- 4.16.3. Magnetic torque -- 4.16.4. Electric torque -- 4.17. References -- 5. Spontaneous Emergence of Chirality -- 5.1. Introduction -- 5.2. Chirality: a historical tour -- 5.2.1. Chirality and optics -- 5.2.2. Chiral symmetry breaking and its misuse -- 5.2.3. Spontaneous emergence of chirality or chiral structures in liquid crystals -- 5.2.4. Spontaneous emergence of chirality due to confinement -- 5.2.5. Spontaneous emergence of chirality due to cylindrical confinement. |
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5.2.6. Some misconceptions about optical rotation -- 5.3. Concluding remarks -- 5.4. Acknowledgments -- 5.5. References -- List of Authors -- Index -- EULA. |
| Subject |
Liquid crystals.
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Liquid Crystals |
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Cristaux liquides. |
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Liquid crystals |
| Added Author |
Pieranski, Pawel
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Godinho, Maria Helena
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| Other Form: |
Print version: 1789450403 9781789450408 (OCoLC)1255462411 |
| ISBN |
9781119850793 (electronic bk.) |
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1119850797 (electronic bk.) |
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1119850789 |
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9781119850786 (electronic bk.) |
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