Interaction between two spherical particles in a nematic liquid crystal

The interaction between two spherical particles in a nematic liquid crystal was investigated. The Landau-de Gennes continuum theory was adopted in terms of a second-rank tensor order parameter for the description of the orientational order of a nematic liquid crystal. An adaptive mesh refinement method was used that proves to be an efficient way of dealing with topological defects, whose core size is much smaller than the particle size. It is observed that when the dipoles composed of a particle and a hyperbolic hedgehog defect align in parallel directions, the interaction potential is attractive for large particle separations.