Extended Data Fig. 7: Probability distribution function (PDF) of nearest distances d of ± 1/2 defects to flow structure surfaces normalised by active length scale \(\ell_\zeta\).

a, Comparison of distances from +1/2 defects to lines of zero \({\mathcal{Q}}\)-criterion (green) and zero vorticity ω (lilac) for both simulations (circles) and experiments (triangles). Though both decrease rapidly, there is a substantially higher PDF of observing defects far from ω=0, which represents defects at locations where finite non-zero shear balances non-zero vorticity. b, Comparison of distance from \({\mathcal{Q}}=0\) for different tumbling parameters λ in the shear-aligning (λ=1), flow-tumbling (λ=0.3) and intermediate (λ=0.6) regimes.