Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

06:24
High-Contrast and Fast Photorheological Switching of a Twist-Bend Nematic Liquid Crystal
Published on: October 31, 2019
Experimental observation of a nonpitchfork acceleration instability in a nematic liquid crystal
Matthias Müller1, Wolfgang Schöpf, Ingo Rehberg
1Experimentalphysik V, Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany. matthias.mueller1@uni-bayreuth.de
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|November 13, 2007
Abstract:
The velocity of domain walls caused by a symmetry-breaking instability is experimentally investigated for the case of electroconvection in a nematic liquid crystal. It turns out that the velocity increases linearly with the distance from the bifurcation creating the domains. This scaling behavior does not agree with the drift pitchfork bifurcation. It has, however, been predicted by a minimal model describing our scenario.

