Column undulation instability in a discotic liquid crystal

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Abstract
We present the first observation of an undulation instability of the columns in a tubular discotic liquid crystal when submitted to a dilation normal to the columns. This effect is very similar to the layer undulation in smectic materials. From the instability threshold and from the undulation wavelength, we derive a value, anomalously large, of the column curvature elastic constant, very close to the value obtained from observation of the column buckling under longitudinal compression. The static or dynamic origin of such a large curvature elastic constant is not understood