Fig. 4: Structure of parabolic, hyperbolic, and T-walls.
a, b Idealized P- and H-walls, respectively; the dashed blue lines illustrate reflection and bisecting properties, θ1 = θ2. c the angle δ = π-2θ between P1 and P2 at the wall vs. x/f, calculated using Eqs. (2) and (3); δ→0 for x→∞ and δ→π for x→0. d At the tip of the P- and H-walls, high elastic bend energy is relieved by two −1/2 disclinations and a T-wall joining them; each disclination replaces one large mismatch angle δ = π-2θ with two small angles β ≈ θ ≪ π, as illustrated by the boxed hodographs. The T-wall bends the outside polarization P1 parallel to itself. The filled black triangles represent the cores of −1/2 disclinations.
