The Radial-Hedgehog Solution in Landau--de Gennes' theory

Abstract: We study the radial-hedgehog solution in a three-dimensional spherical droplet, with homeotropic boundary conditions, within the Landau-de Gennes theory for nematic liquid crystals. The radial-hedgehog solution is a candidate for a globally stable configuration in this model framework and is also a prototype configuration for studying isolated point defects in condensed matter physics. The static properties of the radial-hedgehog solution are governed by a nonlinear singular ordinary differential equation. We consider two different limits separately - the \emph{vanishing core limit} and \emph{low-temperature limit} respectively. We use a combination of Ginzburg-Landau techniques, perturbation methods and stability analysis to study the qualitative properties of the radial-hedgehog solution, both in the vicinity of and away from the defect core. We establish the instability of the radial-hedgehog solution with respect to biaxial perturbations in certain parameter regimes and demonstrate the stability of the radial-hedgehog solution in other parameter regimes. Our results complement previous work in the field, are rigorous in nature and give information about the role of geometry and temperature on the properties of the radial-hedgehog solution and the associated biaxial instabilities.