Abstract
The homotopy theory of topological defects is a powerful tool for organizing and unifying many ideas across a broad range of physical systems. Recently, experimental progress was made in controlling and measuring colloidal inclusions in liquid crystalline phases. The topological structure of these systems is quite rich but, at the same time, subtle. Motivated by experiment and the power of topological reasoning, the classification of defects in uniaxial nematic liquid crystals was reviewed and expounded upon. Particular attention was paid to the ambiguities that arise in these systems, which have no counterpart in the much-storied model or the Heisenberg ferromagnet.
3 More- Received 6 July 2011
- Publisher error corrected 25 June 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.84.497
© 2012 American Physical Society
Corrections
25 June 2012