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Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Forming, Confining, and Observing Microtubule-Based Active Nematics
Published on: January 13, 2023
Analytical description of the Saturn-ring defect in nematic colloids
Stan Alama1, Lia Bronsard1, Xavier Lamy2
1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1.
Abstract:
We derive an analytical formula for the Saturn-ring configuration around a small colloidal particle suspended in nematic liquid crystal. In particular we obtain an explicit expression for the ring radius and its dependence on the anchoring energy. We work within Landau-de Gennes theory: Nematic alignment is described by a tensorial order parameter. For nematic colloids this model had previously been used exclusively to perform numerical computations. Our method demonstrates that the tensorial theory can also be used to obtain analytical results, suggesting a different approach to the understanding of nematic colloidal interactions.
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