Defect order in active nematics on a curved surface

Abstract

We investigate the effects of extrinsic curvature on the turbulent behavior of a 2D active nematic confined to the surface of a cylinder. The surface of a cylinder has no intrinsic curvatrue and only extrinsic curvature. A nematic field reacts to the extrinsic curvature by trying to align with the lowest principle curvature, in this case parallel to the long axis of the cylinder. When nematics are sufficiently active, there is a proliferation of defects arising from a bend or splay instability depending on the nature of the active stress. The extrinsic curvature of the cylinder beaks the rotational symmetry of this process, implying that defects are created parallel or perpendicular to the cylinder depending on whether the active nematic is contractile or extensile.

6 pages, 7 Figures

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Active nematic flows on curved surfaces
• Orientational correlations in active and passive nematic defects
• Active Flows on Curved Surfaces
• Properties of twisted topological defects in 2D nematic liquid crystals
• Morphodynamics of Active Nematic Fluid Surfaces
• Helical Flow States in Active Nematics
• Smectic Layering: Landau theory for a complex-tensor order parameter