20.500.12556/DKUM-84744 Stable assemblies of topological defects in nematic orientational order We considered general mechanisms enabling the stabilization of localized assemblies of topological defects (TDs). There is growing evidence that physical fields represent fundamental natural entities, and therefore these features are of interest to all branches of physics. In general, cores of TDs are energetically costly, and consequently, assemblies of TDs are unfavorable. Owing to the richness of universalities in the physics of TDs, it is of interest to identify systems where they are easily experimentally accessible, enabling detailed and well-controlled analysis of their universal behavior, and cross-fertilizing knowledge in different areas of physics. In this respect, thermotropic nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) represent an ideal experiment testbed for such studies. In addition, TDs in NLCs could be exploited in several applications. We present examples that emphasize the importance of curvature imposed on the phase component of the relevant order parameter field. In NLCs, it is represented by the nematic tensor order parameter. Using a simple Landau-type approach, we show how the coupling between chirality and saddle splay elasticity, which can be expressed as a Gaussian curvature contribution, can stabilize Meron TDs. The latter have numerous analogs in other branches of physics. TDs in 2D curved manifolds reveal that the Gaussian curvature dominantly impacts the assembling and stabilization of TDs. Furthermore, a strong enough curvature that serves as an attractor for TDs is a respective field that could be imposed in a fast enough phase transition. Assemblies of created TDs created in such a disordered environment could be stabilized by appropriate impurities. topological defects nematic liquid crystals Gaussian curvature topological charge topološki defekti nematski tekoči kristali Gaussova ukrivljenost topološki naboj true true true American Chemical Society Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2023-07-17 14:41:50 2023-07-17 14:41:50 2024-05-31 03:48:37 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2023 0 0 169-179 iss. 1 Vol. 8 2023 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2022-11-07 2022-12-07 2022-12-20 532.783 137430275 10.1021/acsomega.2c07174 2470-1343 RAZ_Holbl_Arbresha_2023.pdf RAZ_Holbl_Arbresha_2023.pdf 1 FAF1238FF85AF9BCB3339A017AF54C77 5f2b66d155a76399d0cd473363e8c5146bf6bc911702b3f397411f941e4ae446 72b239de-1e59-11ef-9a97-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=180004 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.2c07174# 0 49f477af-24a0-11ee-8abb-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=168827 Fakulteta za naravoslovje in matematiko 0 0 0