252 research outputs found
Fluctuations of topological disclination lines in nematics: renormalization of the string model
The fluctuation eigenmode problem of the nematic topological disclination
line with strength is solved for the complete nematic tensor order
parameter. The line tension concept of a defect line is assessed, the line
tension is properly defined. Exact relaxation rates and thermal amplitudes of
the fluctuations are determined. It is shown that within the simple string
model of the defect line the amplitude of its thermal fluctuations is
significantly underestimated due to the neglect of higher radial modes. The
extent of universality of the results concerning other systems possessing line
defects is discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Generation of Multiple Circular Walls on a Thin Film of Nematic Liquid Crystal by Laser Scanning
We found that multiple circular walls (MCW) can be generated on a thin film
of a nematic liquid crystal through a spiral scanning of a focused IR laser.
The ratios between radii of adjacent rings of MCW were almost constant. These
constant ratios can be explained theoretically by minimization of the Frank
elastic free energy of nematic medium. The director field on a MCW exhibits
chiral symmetry-breaking although the elastic free energies of both chiral MCWs
are degenerated, i.e., the director on a MCW can rotate clockwise or
counterclockwise along the radial direction.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Chemical Physics Letters 2nd
Editio
Levinas, Durkheim, and the Everyday Ethics of Education
This article explores the influence of Ămile Durkheim on the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas in order both to open up the political significance of Levinasâs thought and to develop more expansive meanings of moral and political community within education. Education was a central preoccupation for both thinkers: Durkheim saw secular education as the site for promoting the values of organic solidarity, while Levinas was throughout his professional life engaged in debates on Jewish education and conceptualized ethical subjectivity as a condition of being taught. Durkheim has been accused of dissolving the moral into the social, and his view of education as a means of imparting a sense of civic republican values is sometimes seen as conservative, while Levinasâs argument for an âunfounded foundationâ for morality is sometimes seen as paralyzing the impetus for concrete political action. Against these interpretations, I argue that their approaches present provocative challenges for conceptualizing the nature of the social, offering theoretical resources to deepen understanding of education as the site of an everyday ethics and a prophetic politics opening onto more compelling ideals for education than those dominant within standard educational discourses
Two Experimental Tests of the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma Effect at the Nematic-Smectic-A Phase Transition
We have conducted two quantitative tests of predictions based on the
Halperin-Lubensky-Ma (HLM) theory of fluctuation-induced first-order phase
transitions. First, we explore the effect of an external magnetic field on the
nematic-smectic-A (NA) transition in a liquid crystal. Second, we examine the
dependence of the first-order discontinuity as a function of mixture
concentration in pure 8CB and three 8CB-10CB mixtures. We find the first
quantitative evidence for deviations from the HLM theory.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Ring-Pattern Dynamics in Smectic-C* and Smectic-C_A* Freely Suspended Liquid Crystal Films
Ring patterns of concentric 2pi-solitons in molecular orientation, form in
freely suspended chiral smectic-C films in response to an in-plane rotating
electric field. We present measurements of the zero-field relaxation of ring
patterns and of the driven dynamics of ring formation under conditions of
synchronous winding, and a simple model which enables their quantitative
description in low polarization DOBAMBC. In smectic C_A* TFMHPOBC we observe an
odd-even layer number effect, with odd number layer films exhibiting order of
magnitude slower relaxation rates than even layer films. We show that this rate
difference is due to much larger spontaneous polarization in odd number layer
films.Comment: 4 RevTeX pgs, 4 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Ordered droplet structures at the liquid crystal surface and elastic-capillary colloidal interactions
We demonstrate a variety of ordered patterns, including hexagonal structures
and chains, formed by colloidal particles (droplets) at the free surface of a
nematic liquid crystal (LC). The surface placement introduces a new type of
particle interaction as compared to particles entirely in the LC bulk. Namely,
director deformations caused by the particle lead to distortions of the
interface and thus to capillary attraction. The elastic-capillary coupling is
strong enough to remain relevant even at the micron scale when its
buoyancy-capillary counterpart becomes irrelevant.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter
Strongly Asymmetric Tricriticality of Quenched Random-Field Systems
In view of the recently seen dramatic effect of quenched random bonds on
tricritical systems, we have conducted a renormalization-group study on the
effect of quenched random fields on the tricritical phase diagram of the spin-1
Ising model in . We find that random fields convert first-order phase
transitions into second-order, in fact more effectively than random bonds. The
coexistence region is extremely flat, attesting to an unusually small
tricritical exponent ; moreover, an extreme asymmetry of the phase
diagram is very striking. To accomodate this asymmetry, the second-order
boundary exhibits reentrance.Comment: revtex, 4 pages, 2 figs, submitted to PR
'An Apotheosis of Well-Being': Durkheim on austerity and double-dip recessions
This article is an attempt to contribute a view on the economic crisis from classical sociology, a voice often missing from the sociological response to the crisis. The work of Ămile Durkheim provides a unique perspective here centred on morality and inequality produced in a historical context akin to our neoliberal times. It is argued there are four key points to take from Durkheimâs work. Firstly, that the initial credit crunch can be more fully understood with reference to the economic anomie which Durkheim sees as âchronicâ in a time of marketization. Secondly, that this creates an antagonistic relationship between a supposedly self-dependent rich and lazy poor. Thirdly, this conception of self-dependency and individual initiative makes any attempt to regulate the economy akin to sacrilege. Finally, the state is unwilling to intervene due to the emergence of âpseudo-democraciesâ. Therefore, Durkheimâs theory accounts for the initial crisis, austerity and double-dip recessions in a sociological framework. The article concludes by returning to the centrality of morality to the crisis for Durkheim and highlighting the omission of this in contemporary debates
Standard and Embedded Solitons in Nematic Optical Fibers
A model for a non-Kerr cylindrical nematic fiber is presented. We use the
multiple scales method to show the possibility of constructing different kinds
of wavepackets of transverse magnetic (TM) modes propagating through the fiber.
This procedure allows us to generate different hierarchies of nonlinear partial
differential equations (PDEs) which describe the propagation of optical pulses
along the fiber. We go beyond the usual weakly nonlinear limit of a Kerr medium
and derive an extended Nonlinear Schrodinger equation (eNLS) with a third order
derivative nonlinearity, governing the dynamics for the amplitude of the
wavepacket. In this derivation the dispersion, self-focussing and diffraction
in the nematic are taken into account. Although the resulting nonlinear
may be reduced to the modified Korteweg de Vries equation (mKdV), it also has
additional complex solutions which include two-parameter families of bright and
dark complex solitons. We show analytically that under certain conditions, the
bright solitons are actually double embedded solitons. We explain why these
solitons do not radiate at all, even though their wavenumbers are contained in
the linear spectrum of the system. Finally, we close the paper by making
comments on the advantages as well as the limitations of our approach, and on
further generalizations of the model and method presented.Comment: "Physical Review E, in press
External-field-induced tricritical point in a fluctuation-driven nematic-smectic-A transition
We study theoretically the effect of an external field on the
nematic-smectic-A (NA) transition close to the tricritical point, where
fluctuation effects govern the qualitative behavior of the transition. An
external field suppresses nematic director fluctuations, by making them
massive. For a fluctuation-driven first-order transition, we show that an
external field can drive the transition second-order. In an appropriate liquid
crystal system, we predict the required magnetic field to be of order 10 T. The
equivalent electric field is of order .Comment: revtex, 4 pages, 1 figure; revised version, some equations have been
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