1205.0218 (S. B. Chernyshuk)

Influence of the high order terms in the elastic interaction between
colloidal particles in the nematic liquid crystals    [PDF]

S. B. Chernyshuk

Theoretical description of the elastic interaction between axially symmetric colloidal particles in NLC beyond the limit of dipole and qudrupole interactions is proposed. Higher order elastic terms are found both for the director field and for elastic interaction potential between particles. It is found that high order terms have the same order as quadrupole term at the short distances and play very important role in the formation of colloidal structures. The case of spherical particles with boojums is described as an example. Analitical solution for the boojums director configuration is found. Such spherical particle is effectively described as multipole of the order 6 with multipolarity equal $2^{6}=64$. The correspondent elastic interaction gives the angle $\theta=33^{\circ}$ of minimum energy of two contact beads which is in line with experimental values.

View original: http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.0218