Complex Dynamics of the Cascade of Kink—Antikink Interactions in a Linear Defect of the Electroconvective Structure of a Nematic Liquid Crystal

Abstract

The complex dynamics of an ensemble of dislocations in a linear defect appearing in a one-dimensional electroconvective structure of a π/2-twisted nematic liquid crystal has been studied. This type of defects is characterized by a quite extended strain field or degree of “dissociation.” Hydrodynamic flows in domains of the twisted nematic liquid crystal have not only the tangential velocity component but also the axial component whose directions in neighboring domains are opposite. Under the action of an applied voltage, the linear defect with the topological charge S = −1 begins to oscillate and decays into an odd number of dislocations with the conservation of the total topological charge. The further dynamics of dislocations in the core of the defect is established such that it ensures the continuity of the flow of an anisotropic liquid in domains. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the cascade of interacting dislocations is qualitatively well described by the multikink solution of the sine-Gordon equation. The fundamental possibility of creating new model objects with a given number of interacting dislocations has been shown.