A nonlinear analysis of thermal instabilities in homeotropic nematics (Q1060079)

This paper employs a nonlinear analysis of the continuum equations to investigate the onset of thermal instability in a layer of nematic liquid crystals confined between two infinite, horizontal flat plates in the presence of a vertical temperature gradient. We consider the case in which the anisotropic axis is initially uniformly aligned perpendicular to the plates. A perturbation method is used on the nonlinear equations to investigate the possible existence of finite amplitude disturbances close to the linear threshold. The nature of the bifurcation is established using a numerical method based on Chebyshev collocation. The investigation includes a study of the effect on the bifurcation produced by a uniform magnetic field applied vertically across the plates.