Liquid crystal torons in Poiseuille-like flows

Area of Science:

• Soft Matter Physics
• Liquid Crystal Science
• Microfluidics

Background:

• Topologically protected distortions, or solitons, like liquid crystal (LC) torons are crucial in microfluidic applications.
• Understanding their behavior under material flow is essential but computationally challenging.
• Previous simulations often focused on 2D systems, potentially missing 3D effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the three-dimensional (3D) structure of LC torons under varying material flow velocities.
• To explore the impact of boundary conditions, specifically partial slip, on toron stability and shape.
• To compare 3D toron behavior with 2D skyrmion responses to flow.

Main Methods:

• Utilized advanced three-dimensional (3D) computational simulations.
• Analyzed toron structural changes at different flow velocities.
• Investigated the effects of partial slip boundary conditions on toron dynamics.

Main Results:

• LC torons achieve a stable configuration at low flow velocities.
• Torons disintegrate at higher flow velocities, consistent with experimental observations.
• Partial slip boundary conditions induce reversible elongation of torons, matching experimental findings.

Conclusions:

• The 3D nature of LC torons significantly influences their response to material flow, differing from 2D systems.
• These findings underscore the necessity of 3D simulations for accurate modeling of LC solitons in flow.
• The study provides a foundation for exploring other topological solitons in flowing soft matter systems.