Interaction between surface and bulk disclinations in nematic liquid crystals

Abstract

The problem of the interaction between a surface disclination and a bulk disclination placed symmetrically with respect to it has been considered on the basis of the continuum theory. It is found that at large distances the bulk disclination is attracted by the surface disclination with a force that is independent of the sign of the former. The force of attraction is found to be nearly the same for bulk disclinations of strength 1/2, 1 and 2. The theory appears to qualitatively account for the experimental observations of Kléman and Williams.