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Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Forming, Confining, and Observing Microtubule-Based Active Nematics
Published on: January 13, 2023
Orientational Correlations in Active and Passive Nematic Defects
D J G Pearce1,2, J Nambisan3,4, P W Ellis5
1Department of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.
Abstract:
We investigate the emergence of orientational order among +1/2 disclinations in active nematic liquid crystals. Using a combination of theoretical and experimental methods, we show that +1/2 disclinations have short-range antiferromagnetic alignment, as a consequence of the elastic torques originating from their polar structure. The presence of intermediate -1/2 disclinations, however, turns this interaction from antialigning to aligning at scales that are smaller than the typical distance between like-sign defects. No long-range orientational order is observed. Strikingly, these effects are insensitive to material properties and qualitatively similar to what is found for defects in passive nematic liquid crystals.
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