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Table of Contents
Intro; Supervisor's Foreword; Acknowledgments; Abstract; Contents; 1 Introduction; References; 2 Liquid Crystals-An Overview; 2.1 Nematic Order; 2.2 Chiral Nematics; 2.3 Free Energy Expansion; 2.4 Anchoring; 2.5 Topological Defects in Nematics; 2.5.1 Topological Defects in Two Dimensions; 2.5.2 Three-Dimensional Topological Defects; 2.5.3 Topological Defects in Chiral Nematics; 2.6 Optics of Liquid Crystals; 2.6.1 Optics of Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystals; References; 3 Liquid Crystal Droplets; 3.1 Chiral Nematic Droplets; 3.2 Chiral Nematic Droplets with Homeotropic Anchoring; References
4 Experimental Inspection of Director Fields4.1 Confocal Microscopy; 4.2 Fluorescent Confocal Polarising Microscopy; References; 5 Materials and Experimental Setup; 5.1 Materials; 5.1.1 Liquid Crystal Mixture; 5.1.2 Emulsion Matrix; 5.1.3 Fluorescent Dye; 5.1.4 Sample Preparation; 5.2 Microscopy Setup; 5.2.1 Numerical Processing of Data and Visualisation; References; 6 Simulated Annealing for Determination of z-Component Sign; 6.1 Testing the Algorithm; 6.1.1 Continuity as the Evaluating Criterion in the Boltzmann Factor; 6.1.2 Boltzmann Factor with Landau-de Gennes Free Energy
6.2 Implementing the Simulated Annealing Algorithm on Experimental Data6.2.1 Bleaching Corrections; 6.2.2 Deconvolution; 6.2.3 Offset Correction and Normalisation; 6.3 Calibration of the Annealing Algorithm on Experimental Data; 6.3.1 Nematic Homeotropic Droplet; 6.3.2 Chiral Nematic Droplet with a Complex Director Structure; 6.3.3 Skyrmions and Torons in Homeotropic Cells; References; 7 Structures in Chiral Nematic Droplets with Homeotropic Anchoring; 7.1 Droplet with a Single Point Defect and a Cholesteric Bubble; 7.2 Droplets with Layered Structures; 7.2.1 Droplets with Bent Layers
7.2.2 Droplets with Flat Layers7.2.3 Cylindrical Layers; 7.2.4 Cholesteric Finger with a Central Hyperbolic Point Defect; 7.2.5 The Lyre/Yeti Structure; 7.2.6 Droplets with Disclination Lines; 7.2.7 Combinations of Cholesteric Bubbles and Cholesteric Cylinders; 7.3 Strings of Point Defects; 7.4 Higher-Charge Topological Point Defects; 7.4.1 -2 Point Defect; 7.4.2 -3 Point Defect; 7.4.3 Structure of the Higher-Charge Point Defects; 7.5 Topological Molecules; 7.5.1 Topological Molecules with Higher-Charge Defects; 7.5.2 Topological Molecules with Disclination Lines
7.5.3 Other Topological MoleculesReferences; 8 Schematic Construction of Droplets with Multiple Cholesteric Bubbles; 8.1 Construction of String-Like Constellations; 8.2 Construction of Topological Molecules with Higher-Charge Point Defects; Reference; 9 Discussion; References; 10 Conclusion; References
4 Experimental Inspection of Director Fields4.1 Confocal Microscopy; 4.2 Fluorescent Confocal Polarising Microscopy; References; 5 Materials and Experimental Setup; 5.1 Materials; 5.1.1 Liquid Crystal Mixture; 5.1.2 Emulsion Matrix; 5.1.3 Fluorescent Dye; 5.1.4 Sample Preparation; 5.2 Microscopy Setup; 5.2.1 Numerical Processing of Data and Visualisation; References; 6 Simulated Annealing for Determination of z-Component Sign; 6.1 Testing the Algorithm; 6.1.1 Continuity as the Evaluating Criterion in the Boltzmann Factor; 6.1.2 Boltzmann Factor with Landau-de Gennes Free Energy
6.2 Implementing the Simulated Annealing Algorithm on Experimental Data6.2.1 Bleaching Corrections; 6.2.2 Deconvolution; 6.2.3 Offset Correction and Normalisation; 6.3 Calibration of the Annealing Algorithm on Experimental Data; 6.3.1 Nematic Homeotropic Droplet; 6.3.2 Chiral Nematic Droplet with a Complex Director Structure; 6.3.3 Skyrmions and Torons in Homeotropic Cells; References; 7 Structures in Chiral Nematic Droplets with Homeotropic Anchoring; 7.1 Droplet with a Single Point Defect and a Cholesteric Bubble; 7.2 Droplets with Layered Structures; 7.2.1 Droplets with Bent Layers
7.2.2 Droplets with Flat Layers7.2.3 Cylindrical Layers; 7.2.4 Cholesteric Finger with a Central Hyperbolic Point Defect; 7.2.5 The Lyre/Yeti Structure; 7.2.6 Droplets with Disclination Lines; 7.2.7 Combinations of Cholesteric Bubbles and Cholesteric Cylinders; 7.3 Strings of Point Defects; 7.4 Higher-Charge Topological Point Defects; 7.4.1 -2 Point Defect; 7.4.2 -3 Point Defect; 7.4.3 Structure of the Higher-Charge Point Defects; 7.5 Topological Molecules; 7.5.1 Topological Molecules with Higher-Charge Defects; 7.5.2 Topological Molecules with Disclination Lines
7.5.3 Other Topological MoleculesReferences; 8 Schematic Construction of Droplets with Multiple Cholesteric Bubbles; 8.1 Construction of String-Like Constellations; 8.2 Construction of Topological Molecules with Higher-Charge Point Defects; Reference; 9 Discussion; References; 10 Conclusion; References