Classification of unit-vector fields in convex polyhedra with tangent boundary conditions

DOI10.1088/0305-4470/37/44/010MaRDI QIDQ4664002zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors

Publication date 5 April 2005

Published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and General (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math-ph/0402025

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Statistical mechanics of random media, disordered materials (including liquid crystals and spin glasses) (82D30) Applications of variational problems in infinite-dimensional spaces to the sciences (58E50) Vector fields, frame fields in differential topology (57R25) Obstructions from topology (19J99)

Abstract: A unit-vector field n on a convex three-dimensional polyhedron P is tangent if, on the faces of P, n is tangent to the faces. A homotopy classification of tangent unit-vector fields continuous away from the vertices of P is given. The classification is determined by certain invariants, namely edge orientations (values of n on the edges of P), kink numbers (relative winding numbers of n between edges on the faces of P), and wrapping numbers (relative degrees of n on surfaces separating the vertices of P), which are subject to certain sum rules. Another invariant, the trapped area, is expressed in terms of these. One motivation for this study comes from liquid crystal physics; tangent unit-vector fields describe the orientation of liquid crystals in certain polyhedral cells.

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(3)

• Lower bound for energies of harmonic tangent unit-vector fields on convex polyhedra
• Tangent unit-vector fields: non-abelian homotopy invariants and the Dirichlet energy
• Energies of \(S^{2}\)-valued harmonic maps on polyhedra with tangent boundary conditions

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