Anomalies near the electrohydrodynamical instability points in the nematic liquid crystal MBBA

Abstract

The evolutional time T e of the dissipative structure which appears under the electric field is measured in the nematic liquid crystal MBBA. The times t e 's tend to diverge at the critical fields: for example, the evolution from the Williams domain to the grid pattern takes time depending on the applied voltage V through non-dimensionalized parameter k as T e ∝ ( k− k ∗) −0.68. Here k= V/ V c , V c is the critical voltage at which the Williams domain is formed and k ∗ is the critical value at the transition from the Williams domain to the grid pattern. The recovery time, during which the flow goes back to the initial mechanical state by removing the voltage, suggests the existence of four different states in the turbulence region.