TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamics of monopole annihilation by type-1/2 strings in a nematic liquid crystal
AU - Pargellis, Andrew N.
AU - Mendez, John
AU - Srinivasarao, Mohan
AU - Yurke, Bernard
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - In uniaxial nematic liquid crystals, monopoles can be annihilated by type-1/2 strings. We present experimental measurements on the dynamics of this process as well as others, including loop collapses and monopole-pair annihilations. On dimensional grounds one expects the size of a collapsing structure in a nematic liquid crystal to scale as τ[Formula Presented] where τ is the time to annihilation. Indeed, type-1/2 loops and monopole-antimonopole pairs exhibit this kind of behavior. In contrast, for monopole annihilation by a type-1/2 string we find that the string-monopole separation scales as [Formula Presented] where α=0.629±0.006.
AB - In uniaxial nematic liquid crystals, monopoles can be annihilated by type-1/2 strings. We present experimental measurements on the dynamics of this process as well as others, including loop collapses and monopole-pair annihilations. On dimensional grounds one expects the size of a collapsing structure in a nematic liquid crystal to scale as τ[Formula Presented] where τ is the time to annihilation. Indeed, type-1/2 loops and monopole-antimonopole pairs exhibit this kind of behavior. In contrast, for monopole annihilation by a type-1/2 string we find that the string-monopole separation scales as [Formula Presented] where α=0.629±0.006.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0005866474&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.53.R25
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.53.R25
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0005866474
SN - 1063-651X
VL - 53
SP - R25-R28
JO - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
JF - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
IS - 1
ER -