On nematic surface energies

Abstract

We review the main outcomes of a continuum theory for the equilibrium of the interface between a nematic liquid crystal and an isotropic environment, in which the surface free energy density bears terms linear in the principal curvatures of the interface. Such geometric contributions to the energy occur together with more conventional elastic contribution, leading to an effective azimuthal anchoring of the optic axis, which breaks the isotropic symmetry of the interface. The theory assumes the interface to be fixed, as for a rigid cavity filled with liquid crystal, and so it does not apply to drops. It should be appropriate when the curvatures of the interface are small compared to that of the molecular interaction sphere. Also, interfaces bearing a sharp edge are encompassed within the theory; a line integral expresses the energy condensed along the edge: we see how it affects the equilibrium equations.