Theory and Experiments on Configurations with Cylindrical Symmetry in Liquid-Crystal Droplets

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Abstract
Elasticity theory is applied to nematic liquid crystals with particular boundary conditions. The calculus of variations is used to derive the torque equations, the solutions of which are found by relaxation methods on a digital computer. These solutions are used to draw pictures of the molecular arrangements and with the aid of Maxwell's equations to predict the observed optical patterns, including the case of magnetic fields applied along the symmetry axis.