Static domain wall solutions for smectic C liquid crystals

The continuum theory for smectic C liquid crystals proposed by Leslie et al. [1] is used to discuss static domain wall solutions in infinite samples in both cylindrical and planar geometry under applied fields. As the azimuthal magnetic field strength increases in an infinite sample of concentric, cylindrical layers arranged with a fixed inner radius, two critical values may occur where the solution changes some of its properties. The application of these results to the possible experimental determination of some of the elastic constants is discussed. The occurrence of domain walls may indicate the relative magnitudes of the combinations of the constants A12 − A21 and A12 + A21 + 2A11 and, in a special case, can indicate when A12 ≈ A21.