Cholesteric–nematic transitions induced by a shear flow and a magnetic field

Abstract

The untwisting of the helical structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal under the action of a magnetic field and a shear flow has been studied theoretically. Both factors can induce the cholesteric–nematic transition independently; however, the difference in the orienting actions of the magnetic field and the shear flow leads to competition between magnetic and hydrodynamic mechanisms of influence on the cholesteric liquid crystal. We have analyzed different orientations of the magnetic field relative to the direction of the flow in the shear plane. In a number of limiting cases, the analytic dependences are obtained for the pitch of the cholesteric helix deformed by the shear flow. The phase diagrams of the cholesteric–nematic transitions and the pitch of the cholesteric helix are calculated for different values of the magnetic field strength and the angle of orientation, the flow velocity gradient, and the reactive parameter. It is shown that the magnetic field stabilizes the orientation of the director in the shear flow and expands the boundaries of orientability of cholesterics. It has been established that the shear flow shifts the critical magnetic field strength of the transition. It is shown that a sequence of reentrant orientational cholesteric–nematic–cholesteric transitions can be induced by rotating the magnetic field in certain intervals of its strength and shear flow velocity gradients.