Coulomb-Like Elastic Interaction in Liquid Crystal Colloids

Authors

  • B. Lev Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Nat. Acad. of Sci. of Ukraine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15407/ujpe70.10.684

Keywords:

liquid crystal colloids, Coulomb-like interaction, soft matter, elastic interaction

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the memory of my teacher P.M. Tomchuk and contains a review of his important results in one of the many areas of theoretical physics in which new solutions and approaches have been proposed, namely, in the theory of liquid crystal colloids. A theoretical approach to the description of long-range elastic interaction between particles immersed in a liquid crystal is proposed. It is shown that the nature of the interaction between particles is dictated by the symmetry breaking in the distribution of the elastic director field around each particle. The symmetry breaking is caused by deformations of the director field by the surface of the particle introduced into the liquid crystal. In cases where the particles induce a deformation with a non-zero torque moment, the Coulomb-like interaction between them is predicted. In addition, it is determined that the Coulomb interaction occurs in the cases of interaction of a particle with a deformation region characterized by a specific distribution of the elastic field. The paper presents experimental data confirming the theoretical predictions of the Coulomb-like interaction of immersed macroscopic particles in a liquid crystal.

References

1. B.I. Lev, P.M. Tomchuk. Interaction of foreign macrodroplets in a nematic liquid crystal and induced supermolecular structures. Phys. Rev. E 59, 591 (1999).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.59.591

2. B.I. Lev, S.B. Chernyshuk, P.M. Tomchuk, H. Yokoyama. Symmetry breacing and interaction of colloidal particles in nematic liquid crystals. Phys. Rev. E 65, 021709 (2002).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.65.021709

3. S.B. Chernyshuk, B.I. Lev, H. Yokoyama. Collective effects in doped nematic liquid crystals. J. Exp. Theor. Phys. 93, 760, (2001).

https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1420444

4. B.I. Lev. The ground state and the character of the interaction between colloidal particles in a liquid crystal. arXiv:1311.1878v1 [cond-mat.soft] 8 Nov2013.

5. B.I. Lev, S.B. Chernyshuk, O.M. Tovkach. Elastic monopoles and external torques in nematic liquid crystal colloids. arXiv:1311.4593v1 [cond-mat.soft] 19 Nov 2013.

6. V. Nazarenko, A. Nych, B. Lev. Crystal structure in nematic emulsion. Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 075504 (2001).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.075504

7. I.I. Smalyukh, S. Chernyshuk, B.I. Lev, A.B. Nych, U. Ognysta, V.G. Nazarenko, O.D. Lavrentovich. Ordered droplet structures at the liquid crystal surface and elastic capillary colloidal interactions. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 117801 (2004).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.117801

8. I. Muˇseviˇc, M.ˇSkarabot, U. Tkalec, M. Ravnik, S.ˇZumer. Two-dimensional nematic colloidal crystals self-assembled by topological defects. Science 313, 954 (2006).

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1129660

9. P. Poulin, H. Stark, T.C. Lubensky, D.A. Weitz. Novel colloidal interactions in anisotropic fluids. Science 275, 1770 (1997).

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.275.5307.1770

10. P. Poulin, D.A. Weitz. Inverted and multiple nematic emulsions. Phys. Rev. E 57, 626 (1998).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.57.626

11. J. Loudet, P. Barois, P. Poulin. Colloidal ordering from phase separation in a liquid-crystalline continuous phase. Nature 407, 611 (2000).

https://doi.org/10.1038/35036539

12. T.C. Lubensky, D. Pettey, N. Currier, H. Stark. Topological defects and interactions in nematic emulsions. Phys. Rev. E 57, 610 (1998).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.57.610

13. H. Stark. Director field configurations around a spherical particle in a nematic liquid crystal. Eur. Phys. J. B 10, 311 (1999).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050860

14. E.D. Belockii, B.I. Lev, P.M. Tomchuk. Pisma Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 31, 573 (1980).

15. P.G. de Gennes, J. Prost. The Physics of Liquid Cristals (Clarendon Press, 1993).

https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198520245.001.0001

16. F. Brochard, P.G. De Gennes. J. Phys. 31, 691 (1970) (Paris).

https://doi.org/10.1051/jphys:01970003107069100

17. I.I. Smalyukh, O.D. Lavrentovich, A.N. Kuzmin, A.V. Kachynski, P.N. Prasad. Elasticity-mediated self-organization and colloidal interactions of solid spheres with tangential anchoring in a nematic liquid crystal. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 157801 (2005).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.157801

18. I.I. Smalyukh, A.N. Kuzmin, A.V. Kachynski, P.N. Prasad, O.D. Lavrentovich. Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 021913 (2005).

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1849839

19. J. Kotar, M. Vilfan, N. Osterman, D. Babiˇc, M.ˇCopiˇc, I. Poberaj. Interparticle potential and drag coefficient in nematic colloids. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 207801 (2006).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.207801

20. M.ˇSkarabot, M. Ravnik, S.ˇZumer, U. Tkalec, I. Poberaj, D. Babiˇc, N. Osterman, I. Muˇseviˇc. Interactions of quadrupolar nematic colloids. Phys. Rev. E 77, 031705 (2008).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.77.031705

21. M.ˇSkarabot, M. Ravnik, S.ˇZumer, U. Tkalec, I. Poberaj, D. Babiˇc, N. Osterman, I. Muˇseviˇc. Two-dimensional dipolar nematic colloidal crystals. Phys. Rev. E 76, 051406 (2007).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.76.051406

22. U. Ognysta, A. Nych, V. Nazarenko, I. Muˇseviˇc, M.ˇSkarabot, M. Ravnik, S.ˇZumer, I. Poberaj, D. Babiˇc. 2D interactions and binary crystals of dipolar and quadrupolar nematic colloids. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 217803 (2007).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.217803

23. S. Ramaswamy, R. Nityananda, V.A. Gaghunathan, J. Prost. Power-law forces between particles in a nematic. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 288, 175 (1996).

https://doi.org/10.1080/10587259608034594

24. A. Nych, U. Ognysta, M. Skarabot, M. Ravnik, S. Zumer, I. Musevic. Assembly and control of 3D nematic dipolar colloidal crystals. Nature Commun. 4, 1489 (2013).

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2486

25. B. Lev, A. Nych, U. Ognysta, S.B. Chernyshuk, V. Nazarenko, M.M. Skarabot, I. Poberaj, D. Babich. N. Osterman, I. Musevic. Anisotropic laser trapping in nematic colloidal dispersion. Eur. Phys. J. E 20, 215 (2006).

https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2006-10015-3

26. P.G. de Gennes, J. Prost. The Physics of Liquid Crystals (Clarendon Press, 1993).

https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198520245.001.0001

27. Beom-Kyu Lee, Sung-Jo Kim, Jong-Hyun Kim, Bohdan Lev. Coulomb-like elastic interaction induced by symmetry breaking in nematic liquid crystal colloids. Scientific Reports 7, 15916 (2017).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16200-z

28. S.H. Chen, N.M. Amer. Cellular structures in ferronematics. Phys. Rev. Lett. 51, 2298 (1983).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.51.2298

29. D. Pires, J-B. Fleury, Y. Galerne. Colloid particles in the interaction field of a disclination line in a nematic phase. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 247801 (2007).

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.247801

30. S.L. Lopatnikov, V.A. Namiot. Interaction of macromolecules injected it to liquid crystal. Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 75, 361 (1978).

Published

2025-10-29

Issue

Section

Contents

How to Cite

Coulomb-Like Elastic Interaction in Liquid Crystal Colloids. (2025). Ukrainian Journal of Physics, 70(10), 684. https://doi.org/10.15407/ujpe70.10.684

Most read articles by the same author(s)