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# On the connection between affine and projective fundamental groups of line arrangements and curves

## 1. Introduction

The fundamental group of complements of plane curves is a very important topological invariant with many different applications. There are two such invariants: the affine fundamental group of a plane curve, which is the fundamental group of its affine complement, and its projective fundamental group, which is the fundamental group of its projective complement.

Oka  has proved the following interesting result, which shed new light on the connection between these two fundamental groups:

###### Theorem 1.1 (Oka).

Let $`C`$ be a curve in $`^2`$ and let $`L`$ be a general line to $`C`$, i.e. $`L`$ intersects $`C`$ in only simple points. Then, we have a central extension:

$$1\pi _1(^2(CL))\pi _1(^2C)1$$

Since $`L`$ is a general line to $`C`$, then:

$$\pi _1(^2(CL))=\pi _1(^2C).$$

Hence, we get the following interesting connection between the two fundamental groups:

$$1\pi _1(^2C)\pi _1(^2C)1$$

A natural question is:

###### Question 1.2.

Under which conditions does this short exact sequence split? Notice that when it does, we have the following decomposition:

$$\pi _1(^2C)\pi _1(^2C)$$

A real line arrangement in $`^2`$ is a finite union of copies of $``$ in $`^2`$, whose equations can be written by real coefficients. Some families of real line arrangements were already proved to satisfy this condition, see .

Here, we show that:

###### Theorem 1.3.

If $``$ is a real line arrangement, then such a decomposition holds:

$$\pi _1(^2)\pi _1(^2)$$

Actually, one can see that the same argument holds for arbitrary line arrangements (see Theorem 2.3). Moreover, we give a different condition for this decomposition to hold: If $`C`$ is a plane curve with a line component, i.e. $`C=C^{}L`$ where $`L`$ is a line, we have that $`\pi _1(^2C)=\pi _1(^2C)`$ too.

These results can be applied to the computation of the affine fundamental groups of line arrangements, since the projective fundamental group is an easier object to deal with than the affine fundamental group.

The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we prove Theorem 1.3. The other condition is discussed in Section 3, and in the last section we give some applications.

## 2. Proof of Theorem 1.3

In this section, we prove Theorem 1.3.

###### Proof of Theorem 1.3.

Let $``$ be a real line arrangement with $`n`$ lines. Let $`L`$ be an arbitrary line which intersects $``$ transversally. By the following remark, one can reduce the proof to the case where $`L`$ is a line which intersects transversally all the lines in $``$ and all the intersection points of $`L`$ with lines in $``$ are to the left of all the intersection points of $``$ (see Figure 1 for such an example, where the arrangement $``$ consists of $`L_1,L_2,L_3`$ and $`L_4`$).

###### Remark 2.1.

We have proved in  that in a real line arrangement, if a line crosses a multiple intersection point from one side to its other side (see Figure 2), the fundamental groups remain unchanged (see \[3, Theorem 4.13\] for this property of the action $`\stackrel{\mathrm{\Delta }}{=}`$).

By this argument, we can start with any transversal line $`L`$ as “the line at infinity”. Then, by using this property repeatedly, we can push this line over all the intersection points of the arrangement $``$, without changing the corresponding fundamental group. This process will be terminated when all the intersection points of $`L`$ with $``$ are placed to the left of all the intersection points of $``$, and this is the reduced case.

By this remark, we continue the proof of Theorem 1.3 for the reduced case, where all the intersection points of $`L`$ with $``$ are placed to the left of all the intersection points of $``$. We compute presentations for $`\pi _1(^2)`$ and $`\pi _1(^2(L))`$ by braid monodromy techniques (the Moishezon-Teicher algorithm) and the van Kampen Theorem. The original techniques are introduced in  and  respectively. Shorter presentations of these techniques can be found in  and .

We first have to compute the lists of Lefschetz pairs of the arrangements, which are the pairs of indices of the components intersected at the intersection point, where we numerate the components locally near the point (see ). Since $``$ is an arbitrary real line arrangement, its list of Lefschetz pairs is

$$([a_1,b_1],\mathrm{},[a_k,b_k]),$$

where $`k`$ is the number of intersection points in $``$. If we assume that the additional line $`L`$ crosses all the lines of $``$ transversally to the left of all the intersection points in $``$, the list of Lefschetz pairs of $`L`$ is

$$([a_1,b_1],\mathrm{},[a_k,b_k],[n,n+1],\mathrm{},[1,2])$$

By the braid monodromy techniques and the van Kampen Theorem, the group $`\pi _1(^2)`$ has $`n`$ generators $`\{x_1,\mathrm{},x_n\}`$ and $`\pi _1(^2(L))`$ has $`n+1`$ generators $`\{x_1,\mathrm{},x_n,x_{n+1}\}`$. Moreover, the first $`k`$ relations of $`\pi _1(^2(L))`$ are equal to the $`k`$ relations of $`\pi _1(^2)`$. Let us denote this set of relations by $``$.

Now, we have to find out the relations induced by the $`n`$ intersection points of the line $`L`$ with the arrangement $``$. Moreover, we have to add at last the appropriate projective relations.

First, we compute the relations induced by the $`n`$ intersection points of the line $`L`$ with the arrangement $``$. The Lefschetz pair of the $`(k+1)`$th point (which is the first intersection point of $`L`$ with $``$) is $`[n,n+1]`$. Hence, its corresponding initial skeleton is shown in Figure 3.

Since the list of pairs $`[a_1,b_1],\mathrm{},[a_k,b_k]`$ is induced by a line arrangement, it is easy to see that:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }a_k,b_k\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }a_1,b_1=\mathrm{\Delta }1,n,$$

where $`\mathrm{\Delta }1,n`$ is the generalized half-twist on the segment $`[1,n]`$.

Therefore, applying this braid on the initial skeleton yields the resulting skeleton for this point which is presented in Figure 4.

By the van Kampen Theorem, the corresponding relation is:

$$[x_nx_{n1}\mathrm{}x_2x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1,x_{n+1}]=1$$

Let $`P_i`$ be the $`i`$th intersection point, where $`k+2ik+n`$. Its corresponding Lefschetz pair is $`[n(ik)+1,n(ik)+2]`$, and hence its initial skeleton is shown in Figure 5.

Now, we first have to apply on it the following braid:

$$\mathrm{\Delta }n(ik)+2,n(ik)+3\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }n,n+1$$

and afterwards we have to apply on the resulting skeleton $`\mathrm{\Delta }1,n`$, which equals to

$$\mathrm{\Delta }a_k,b_k\mathrm{}\mathrm{\Delta }a_1,b_1$$

as before. Hence, Figure 6 presents the resulting skeleton for the $`i`$th point.

Again, by the van Kampen Theorem, the corresponding relation is:

$$[x_nx_{n1}\mathrm{}x_{ik+1}x_{ik}x_{ik+1}^1\mathrm{}x_n^1,x_{n+1}]=1$$

To summarize, we get that the set of relations induced by the intersection points of the additional line $`L`$ is:

$$\{[x_nx_{n1}\mathrm{}x_{ik+1}x_{ik}x_{ik+1}^1\mathrm{}x_n^1,x_{n+1}]=1|1ikn\}$$

One can easily see, by a sequence of substitutions, that actually this set of relations is equal to the following set:

$$\{[x_i,x_{n+1}]=1|1in\}$$

Hence, we have the following presentations:

$$\pi _1(^2)=x_1,\mathrm{},x_n|;x_nx_{n1}\mathrm{}x_1=1$$

$$\pi _1(^2(L))=\begin{array}{cc}x_1,\mathrm{},x_n,x_{n+1}& ;[x_i,x_{n+1}]=1,1in;\\ & x_{n+1}x_n\mathrm{}x_1=1\end{array}$$

It remains to show that these presentations imply that:

$$\pi _1(^2(L))=\pi _1(^2)$$

Denote by $`(x_1w)`$ the set of relations $``$ after we substitute anywhere the generator $`x_1`$ by an element $`w`$ in the corresponding group.

Hence, using the projective relations in both fundamental groups, we have the following new presentations:

$$\pi _1(^2)=x_2,\mathrm{},x_n|(x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1)$$

$$\pi _1(^2(L))=\begin{array}{cc}x_2,\mathrm{},x_n,x_{n+1}& (x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1x_{n+1}^1);\\ & [x_i,x_{n+1}]=1,2in\end{array}$$

Since all the relations in $``$ are either commutative relations or cyclic relations of the type

$$w_mw_{m1}\mathrm{}w_1=w_{m1}\mathrm{}w_1w_m=\mathrm{}=w_1w_m\mathrm{}w_2,$$

where $`w_i`$ are words in the generators $`x_1,\mathrm{},x_n`$, then the sum of powers of the generator $`x_1`$ or its inverse are equal in any part of the relation. Hence, using the fact that $`x_{n+1}`$ commutes with all the other generators, we actually can cancel $`x_{n+1}`$ from the set of relations

$$(x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1x_{n+1}^1),$$

and therefore we have:

$$(x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1x_{n+1}^1)=(x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1).$$

By this argument, we now have:

$`\pi _1(^2(L))`$ $``$ $`\begin{array}{cc}x_2,\mathrm{},x_n,x_{n+1}& (x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1x_{n+1}^1);\\ & [x_i,x_{n+1}]=1,2in\end{array}`$
$``$ $`\begin{array}{cc}x_2,\mathrm{},x_n,x_{n+1}& (x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1);\\ & [x_i,x_{n+1}]=1,2in\end{array}`$
$``$ $`x_2,\mathrm{},x_n|(x_1x_2^1\mathrm{}x_n^1)x_{n+1}`$
$``$ $`\pi _1(^2)`$
Since $`L`$ is transversal to $``$, this is equivalent to:

$$\pi _1(^2)\pi _1(^2)$$

and we are done. ∎

###### Remark 2.2.

By the projective relation in $`\pi _1(^2(L))`$, we have that:

$$x_{n+1}=(x_n\mathrm{}x_1)^1.$$

Hence, we have that the element which corresponds to the loop around all the lines is a central element in $`\pi _1(^2)=\pi _1(^2(L))`$, as was shown by Oka  too.

Now, one can see that a similar argument holds for complex line arrangements too. Hence, one has the following generalization:

###### Theorem 2.3.

Let $``$ be an arbitrary line arrangement. Then the following decomposition holds:

$$\pi _1(^2)\pi _1(^2)$$

## 3. A different condition for a decomposition

In this section we will show that the decomposition holds for any reducible curve with a line component.

Oka and Sakamoto  have proved the following decomposition theorem concerning the affine fundamental group:

###### Theorem 3.1 (Oka-Sakamoto).

Let $`C_1`$ and $`C_2`$ be algebraic plane curves in $`^2`$. Assume that the intersection $`C_1C_2`$ consists of distinct $`d_1d_2`$ points, where $`d_i(i=1,2)`$ are the respective degrees of $`C_1`$ and $`C_2`$. Then:

$$\pi _1(^2(C_1C_2))\pi _1(^2C_1)\pi _1(^2C_2)$$

Here is a parallel version for the projective fundamental group:

###### Lemma 3.2.

Let $`C_1`$ and $`C_2`$ be plane curves in $`^2`$ with respective degrees $`d_1`$ and $`d_2`$. Let $`C_i^{}`$ be the affine part of $`C_i`$ with respect to a projective line $`L`$. If $`C_1^{}C_2^{}`$ consists of $`d_1d_2`$ distinct simple points, then:

$$\pi _1(^2(C_1C_2L))\pi _1(^2(C_1L))\pi _1(^2(C_2L)).$$

###### Proof.

When $`L`$ becomes the line at infinity, the curve $`C_1C_2`$ becomes $`C_1^{}C_2^{}`$. Also, it is easy to see that if $`C^{}`$ denotes the affine part of $`C`$ with respect to $`L`$, then

$$\pi _1(^2(CL))\pi _1(^2C^{}).$$

Now, we can compute:

$`\pi _1(^2(C_1C_2L))`$ $``$ $`\pi _1(^2(C_1^{}C_2^{}))`$
$`\stackrel{[7]}{}`$ $`\pi _1(^2C_1^{})\pi _1(^2C_2^{})`$
$``$ $`\pi _1(^2(C_1L))\pi _1(^2(C_2L))`$
Hence, we get:

###### Corollary 3.3.

Let $`C`$ be a plane curve of degree $`d`$ in $`^2`$ and let $``$ be a line arrangement consisting of $`k`$ lines meeting in a point outside $`C`$. Let $`L`$ be an additional line which intersects both $`C`$ and $``$ transversally. If $`C`$ consists of $`dk`$ distinct simple points, then:

$$\pi _1(^2(CL))\pi _1(^2(CL))𝔽_{k1},$$

where $`𝔽_k`$ is the free group with $`k`$ generators. In particular, if $`k=1`$, i.e. $``$ consists of one line $`L_1`$, then:

$$\pi _1(^2(CL_1L))\pi _1(^2(CL))$$

###### Proof.

Substituting $`C`$ instead of $`C_1`$ and $``$ instead of $`C_2`$ in the last lemma, yields the following equation:

$$\pi _1(^2(CL))\pi _1(^2(CL))\pi _1(^2(L)).$$

Since $`\pi _1(^2(L))=𝔽_{k1}`$ (see for example ), the Corollary is proved. Fixing $`k=1`$ yields the particular case. ∎

Hence we got the following result:

###### Proposition 3.4.

Let $`C`$ be a plane curve with a line component, i.e. $`C=C^{}L`$ where $`L`$ is a line that intersects $`C^{}`$ transversally. Then:

$$\pi _1(^2C)=\pi _1(^2C)$$

###### Proof.

Using the case $`k=1`$ in the last corollary, we get that:

$$\pi _1(^2(C^{}L_1L))\pi _1(^2(C^{}L))$$

But since $`L_1`$ intersects $`C^{}L`$ transversally, we have that

$$\pi _1(^2(C^{}L_1L))\pi _1(^2(C^{}L))$$

So we get:

$$\pi _1(^2(C^{}L))\pi _1(^2(C^{}L))$$

###### Remark 3.5.

By a similar argument to the argument we have used to prove Theorem 1.3, and by the fact that the line at infinity is transversal to $`CL`$, we can generalize Proposition 3.4 to the case that $`L`$ does not have to be transversal to $`C`$.

## 4. Some applications

In this section, we present some immediate applications of the main result.

### 4.1. Structure of the affine fundamental groups for some real arrangements

Fan  proved the following result:

###### Proposition 4.1 (Fan).

Let $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ be an arrangement of $`n`$ lines and $`S=\{a_1,\mathrm{},a_k\}`$ be the set of all singularities of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ with multiplicity $`3`$. Suppose that the subgraph of $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, which contains only the higher singularities (i.e. with multiplicity $`3`$) and their edges, is a union of trees. Then:

$$\pi _1(^2\mathrm{\Sigma })^r𝔽^{m(a_1)1}\mathrm{}𝔽^{m(a_k)1}$$

where $`r=n+k1m(a_1)\mathrm{}m(a_k)`$ and $`m(a_i)`$ is the multiplicity of the intersection point $`a_i`$.

Using Theorem 1.3, we have the following easy consequence:

###### Corollary 4.2.

Under the same conditions of the last proposition, we have that:

$$\pi _1(^2\mathrm{\Sigma })^{r+1}𝔽^{m(a_1)1}\mathrm{}𝔽^{m(a_k)1}$$

where $`r=n+k1m(a_1)\mathrm{}m(a_k)`$.

This generalizes Theorem 5.3 of .

### 4.2. The connection between the invariants of real arrangements

In  and  we address the following question about the invariants of real arrangements:

###### Question 4.3.

Does the incidence lattice determine the affine fundamental group and the projective fundamental group of real line arrangements?

For complex line arrangements, the answer for this question is negative due to an example of Rybnikov (see ).

Our main result is (see ):

###### Theorem 4.4.

For real line arrangements with up to $`8`$ lines, the incidence lattice does determine the affine fundamental group and the projective fundamental group.

By Theorem 1.3, we actually reduce this question to the projective case only, since we have:

###### Corollary 4.5.

Let $`_1`$ and $`_2`$ be two real line arrangements such that:

$$\pi _1(^2_1)\pi _1(^2_2)$$

Then:

$$\pi _1(^2_1)\pi _1(^2_2)$$

This simplifies much the computational aspect of this question, since during the computations we have performed in , it was turned out that the comparison of two projective fundamental groups was much easier than the comparison of the corresponding affine fundamental groups. The main reason for this difference is probably that the affine fundamental group has one more generator than the projective fundamental group (this generator is cancelled by the projective relation which implies that the multiplication of all the generators is the unit element).

## Acknowledgment

I wish to thank Mutsuo Oka and Pho Duc Tai for fruitful discussions. I also thank Ehud De-Shalit and Einstein Institute of Mathematics for hosting my stay.


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# Modulated structures in electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals

## I Introduction

Nematic liquid crystals, the simplest type of intrinsically anisotropic fluids, continue to provide model systems for a wide variety of interesting nonlinear dynamical phenomena like optical instabilities optic , flow-induced nonlinear waves BoeBu2000 , critical properties of nonequilibrium transitions conv , and in particular electrically or thermally driven convection instabilities conv ; KrPe2000  (see also LCbook  and references therein).

In nematics the mean orientation of the rod-like molecules is described by the director $`\widehat{n}`$. Electroconvection (EC) driven by an ac voltage $`U`$ at frequency $`\omega `$ is commonly observed in thin nematic layers sandwiched between glass plates with transparent electrodes using nematics with positive conductivity anisotropy ($`\sigma _a>0`$) and negative or slightly positive dielectric anisotropy $`ϵ_a`$. In the well studied planarly aligned case, where $`\widehat{n}`$ is anchored parallel to the bounding plates along a direction which we will take as $`x`$ (we choose the layer in the $`x`$-$`y`$ plane) EC sets in directly from the homogeneous state at a critical voltage $`U_c(\omega )`$ and leads slightly above threshold to ordered roll patterns associated with a periodic director distortion with the critical wave vector $`\stackrel{}{q}_c(\omega )`$. Here we will only consider the most common situation where the bifurcation is supercritical and leads to stationary rolls with $`\stackrel{}{q}_c`$ parallel to $`\widehat{x}`$ (normal rolls (NRs)). In the usual low-frequency conduction regime, where the wavelength is controlled by the cell thickness, this may exclude in particular very low frequencies where the rolls at threshold may be oriented obliquely (depending on the material). In NRs near threshold the director remains in the $`x`$-$`z`$ plane, i.e., perpendicular to the roll axis.

The investigation of homeotropically oriented cells using nematics with manifestly negative dielectric anisotropy $`ϵ_a<0`$ was initiated rather recently, see richter94 ; richter95a ; richter95b ; kai97  for experimental and hertrich ; RoHe96 ; KraPe95  for theoretical work. In this case the director is initially oriented perpendicular to the layer, i.e., in the $`z`$ direction, so the system is isotropic in the $`x`$-$`y`$ plane. Then the first instability is the spatially homogeneous Freedericksz transition where the director bends away from the $`z`$ direction, singling out spontaneously a direction $`\widehat{c}`$ in the $`x`$-$`y`$ plane. After the transition the slow, undamped variation of the in-plane director $`\widehat{c}`$ (the Goldstone mode) may be described by an angle $`\varphi `$. At higher voltages there is a further transition to EC which is in many respects similar to that in cells with planarly aligned nematics. However, now the Goldstone mode has to be included in the description even right at threshold. It turns out that the torque arising when the in-plane director and the wavevector are (slightly) misaligned is destabilizing, i.e., it acts to increase the misalignment (“abnormal torque”). Then the in-plane director in NRs is not perpendicular to the (local) roll axis. These NRs with a misaligned in-plane director were termed “abnormal rolls” (ARs) richter94 . Furthermore one may expect spatio-temporal disorder right at threshold and this has indeed been observed, at least in the oblique roll regime, where one expects faster dynamics RoHe96 ; kai97 ; ToBu98 . For NRs the experimental situation is not totally clear ToBu98 .

By applying an in-plane magnetic field, which now defines the $`x`$ direction and exerts an aligning torque on $`\widehat{c}`$, the disorder at threshold can be suppressed. Indeed the situation then is similar to that in the planar case. However, for a small field a small abnormal torque will suffice to overcome the magnetic alignment, and then one has a transition to ordered ARs, where the in-plane director is homogeneously rotated out of the $`x`$ direction. For NRs this symmetry breaking is spontaneous, either to the left or to the right, and the transition is described by a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation, which has been verified experimentally BuTo00 ; RoEb00 .

In the planarly aligned case one also has a transition to ordered ARs, although this occurs at a distance from threshold such that a quantitative description is more difficult. Since now the director is aligned at the cell boundaries the distortion of the in-plane director is confined to the center part of the cell leading to a twist distortion. Incidentally, this is the reason why the phenomenon has been identified only recently in planar convection PlaDe97 . By applying a magnetic field in the $`y`$ direction one can now destabilize $`\widehat{c}`$ and thus move the AR transition downward towards the primary instability. The AR transition merges with the primary bifurcation when the field reaches the strength of the twist Freedericksz field. When the two transitions are near each other a simple reduced description can be used. This shows that the two classes of systems are in many ways similar.

Above the AR transition one often observes more complicated structures with or without defects. In particular, in homeotropic EC, modulations of the AR mode have been observed which leave the roll pattern (i.e., its phase) virtually unchanged RoEb00 ; BuTo00 . Ideally, such structures can be considered quasi one-dimensional (1D) with spatial variations only perpendicular to the (normally oriented) rolls. We wish to address in particular such structures by studying the simplest set of coupled amplitude equations capable of describing the AR scenario. These equations were first derived for homeotropic systems near threshold RoHe96 ; axelthesis  but with a slight generalization they can also illustrate the planar case. We here present for the first time 1D solutions of the appropriate type. We will then briefly discuss the destabilization of these 1D structures. Finally we present a new class of fully ordered 2D solutions occurring at higher voltage (or smaller magnetic fields) involving periodic arrangements of defect chains (or bands of defects). We call them static chevrons since they are reminiscent of the dynamic chevrons observed in the dielectric range of EC, and more recently, also in homeotropic convection ToBu98 .

Our results could also be of relevance for the higher-frequency dielectric regime, where the rolls are very narrow and therefore the orienting effect of planar boundary conditions is substantially weaker than in the conduction range. Recently the weakly nonlinear description of the dielectric regime in planarly aligned systems has been investigated in detail Ro00 .

In Sec. II we discuss the basic equations, which take the form of an activator-inhibitor system, and their homogeneous solutions. In Sec. III we study 1D modulated solutions. Their stability within the full 2D equations is investigated in Sec. IV.1 and in Sec. IV.2 some 2D structures, in particular defect-free solutions, are presented. In Sec. V we present the static chevron states. We conclude by putting our results into a more general context, relate them to experiments, and present an outlook.

## II Basic equations and homogeneous solutions

In situations where the in-plane director, described by an angle $`\phi `$ measured from the $`x`$ direction, becomes an active mode already near the threshold to NRs one can describe the system by the following set of coupled Ginzburg-Landau equations for the complex patterning mode $`A`$ and the slowly varying angle $`\phi `$ RoHe96 ; axelthesis

$`\stackrel{ˇ}{\tau }_{\stackrel{ˇ}{t}}\stackrel{ˇ}{A}=[\epsilon +\xi _{xx}^2_{\stackrel{ˇ}{x}}^2+\xi _{yy}^2(_{\stackrel{ˇ}{y}}^2`$ $``$ $`2iq_cC_1\phi _{\stackrel{ˇ}{y}}C_2\phi ^2)`$
$`g|\stackrel{ˇ}{A}|^2+i\stackrel{ˇ}{\nu }_{\stackrel{ˇ}{y}}\phi ]\stackrel{ˇ}{A},`$ (1)
$`\stackrel{ˇ}{\gamma }_1_{\stackrel{ˇ}{t}}\phi =K_1_{\stackrel{ˇ}{y}}^2\phi +K_3_{\stackrel{ˇ}{x}}^2\phi `$ $``$ $`T\phi `$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Gamma }}{4}}[iq_c\stackrel{ˇ}{A}^{}(_{\stackrel{ˇ}{y}}`$ $``$ $`iq_c\phi )\stackrel{ˇ}{A}+\text{c.c.}].`$ (2)
Here we have chosen the $`x`$ direction along the wavevector of the NRs. The angle $`\phi `$ of the in-plane director is measured from the $`x`$ axis. The validity of Eqs. (II,II) is restricted to small values of the reduced control parameter (more precisely $`\epsilon /g1`$ and angles $`|\phi |1`$). Special attention should be paid to the sign of the parameter $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. If $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ were positive the field $`\phi `$ would be stabilized by the roll pattern. However, $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ is negative, at least for the standard nematics which have been used in relevant experiments RoHe96 ; axelthesis ; Ro00 . This gives rise to the transition to abnormal rolls and to interesting dynamical phenomena. Note that $`\xi _{yy}`$ tends to zero at the transition from normal to oblique rolls at threshold.

The equations can be justified most convincingly for homeotropic orientation near the EC threshold (reduced control parameter $`\epsilon 1`$). Overall rotation invariance then requires that the three terms multiplying $`\xi _{yy}^2`$ in Eq. (II) combine to $`(_{\stackrel{ˇ}{y}}iq_c\phi )^2`$, so that $`C_1=C_2=1`$. Without the isotropy-breaking term $`T\phi `$, which is realized easily by an in-plane magnetic field (then $`T=\stackrel{ˇ}{\chi }_aH^2`$), the angle $`\phi `$ may not saturate. Then one has to resort to a globally rotational invariant generalization of Eqs. (II,II) axelthesis ; RoHe96 . We will see that this is not always necessary.

The parameters $`C_1,C_2`$ were introduced to allow for more general situations like in planar alignment (for structural stability one needs $`C_2>C_1^2>0`$). Then the magnetic field term in Eq. (II) actually models the orienting effect of the boundaries. In the common conduction range, where the wavelength is of the order of the cell thickness, the orienting effects are sufficiently strong so that interesting dynamics of $`\phi `$ sets in at values of $`\epsilon `$ which are too large to allow quantitative description by Eqs. (II,II). Then, in particular, singular mean flow has to be included KraDre01 ; berndthesis . To reduce the damping of $`\phi `$ one can either apply a destabilizing in-plane magnetic field and/or go to the dielectric range where the effect of boundaries is weaker Ro00 . When $`T`$ becomes too small higher-order terms are needed in Eq. (II).

For calculations it is useful to introduce a scaled version of Eqs. (II,II) for $`\epsilon >0`$

$`\tau _tA=[1+_x^2+_y^22ic_1\varphi _y\varphi ^2|A|^2i\nu _y\varphi ]A`$ (3)
$`_t\varphi =D_1_x^2\varphi +D_2_y^2\varphi h\varphi +\left[{\displaystyle \frac{i}{2}}A^{}(c_2_yi\varphi )A+\text{c.c.}\right]`$ (4)
where

$`\stackrel{ˇ}{A}`$ $`=`$ $`(\epsilon /g)^{1/2}A,\phi =\epsilon ^{1/2}\varphi /(\xi _{yy}q_c\sqrt{C_2}),`$
$`\stackrel{ˇ}{x}`$ $`=`$ $`\xi _{xx}\epsilon ^{1/2}x,\stackrel{ˇ}{y}=\xi _{yy}\epsilon ^{1/2}y,\stackrel{ˇ}{t}=2\stackrel{ˇ}{\gamma }_1gt/(\epsilon |\mathrm{\Gamma }|q_c^2),`$
$`\tau `$ $`=`$ $`\stackrel{ˇ}{\tau }|\mathrm{\Gamma }|q_c^2/(2\stackrel{ˇ}{\gamma }_1g),\nu =\stackrel{ˇ}{\nu }/(\xi _{yy}^2q_c\sqrt{C_2}),`$
$`D_1`$ $`=`$ $`2K_3g/(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|q_c^2\xi _{xx}^2),D_2=2K_1g/(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|q_c^2\xi _{yy}^2),`$
$`c_1`$ $`=`$ $`C_1/\sqrt{C_2},c_2=\sqrt{C_2},h=2Tg/(|\mathrm{\Gamma }|q_c^2\epsilon ).`$ (5)
The damping parameter $`h`$ gives the ratio of the aligning (=isotropy-breaking) torque over the abnormal torque of NRs. For large values of $`h`$ one can set $`\varphi =0`$ and disregard Eq. (4). $`h`$ can be decreased by either decreasing a stabilizing magnetic field (increasing a destabilizing field) or by increasing $`\epsilon `$. Below we will show that, keeping the aligning torque fixed, one can write

$$h=\epsilon _{\mathrm{AR}}/\epsilon ,$$
(6)
where $`\epsilon _{\mathrm{AR}}`$ is the reduced control parameter where the transition from NRs to ARs takes place. The parameter $`\nu `$ describes the action of the gradient of the in-plane director on the phase of the rolls. Experimentally it can be controlled by varying the frequency. In this paper we will be concerned with the range $`\nu >0`$ where NRs are first destabilized by the transition to ARs (see below). For $`\nu <0`$ the zig-zag instability comes in earlier. Various features of Eqs. (3,4) have been analyzed in RoHe96 ; axelthesis ; hongthesis  and comparison with experiment has given evidence for their validity.

We first discuss the homogenous solutions of (3,4) for rolls with modulation wavevector $`(Q,P)`$ where $`A=A_0e^{i(Qx+Py)},A_00`$, and a constant in space angle $`\varphi =\varphi _0`$. One is left with the dynamical system

$`\tau _tA_0`$ $`=`$ $`[1Q^2P^2+2c_1P\varphi _0\varphi _0^2A_0^2]A_0,`$
$`_t\varphi _0`$ $`=`$ $`(A_0^2h)\varphi _0c_2PA_0^2.`$ (7)
These equations can be classified as an activator-inhibitor system with activator $`A_0`$ (positive linear growth rate for not too large wavevector) and inhibitor $`\varphi _0`$. For simplicity we will in the following consider $`Q=0`$ (the results are easily generalized). For $`P=0`$ (rolls exactly in the $`x`$ direction; we will deal with this case, except in Sec. V) there is the symmetry $`\varphi \varphi `$. The basic uniform state $`A_0=0,\varphi _0=0`$, is an unstable solution of (II), and the NR state $`A_0=1,\varphi _0=0`$, is stable only for $`h1`$. Finally, the abnormal roll (AR) states

$$A_{\mathrm{AR}}=\sqrt{h},\varphi _{\mathrm{AR}}=\pm \sqrt{1h}$$
(8)
exist in the range $`0h<1`$. They bifurcate from the NRs at $`h=1`$ and they break the symmetry $`\varphi \varphi `$ of the equations. For $`h>0`$ the two AR states are global attractors with regions of attraction $`A_0>0,\varphi _0>/<0`$, respectively. For $`h>4\tau /(1+4\tau )`$ the AR states represent saddles (two real eigenvalues), otherwise spiral points.

The case $`h=0`$ needs special attention. Clearly the whole band

$$A_0=0,\varphi _0=\text{constant},$$
(9)
is solution of the equation. The segment $`|\varphi _0|<1`$ is repulsive whereas the regions $`|\varphi _0|>1`$ are attractive. The AR state (for $`h=0`$) separates the two cases. There is a separatrix $`A_0^2+1/(1+\tau )\varphi _0^2=1`$, which separates trajectories flowing out of the repulsive segment from those coming from infinity.

The degeneracy for $`h=0`$ is presumably realistic for homeotropic EC. It is a consequence of rotational invariance. For planar EC the degeneracy is removed by higher-order terms, in particular a term proportional to $`\varphi ^3`$ in Eq. (4). Nevertheless it is instructive to study this limit where results simplify.

## III 1D modulated structures

Next we consider modulated structures that leave the roll pattern untouched, i.e., which do not involve the phase of the complex field $`A`$. This can occur generically only for spatial variations along $`x`$. Then the equations take the form

$`\tau _tA`$ $`=`$ $`(_x^2+1A^2\varphi ^2)A,`$ (10)
$`_t\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`(D_1_x^2+A^2h)\varphi .`$ (11)
In this section we will study these equations. We will choose $`A>0`$.

### III.1 Single domain walls

We start by discussing domain walls that connect the two variants of AR solutions and their interaction. Near the AR transition ($`h`$ near 1) domain walls attract each other, so that modulated states are unstable. This can be seen from the fact that for $`1h1`$ the amplitude can be eliminated adiabatically from Eq. (10) leading to

$$_t\varphi =(D_1_x^2+1h\varphi ^2)\varphi .$$
(12)
In this equation all modulated states (they can be expressed in terms of an elliptic integral) are unstable, although their lifetimes are exceedingly long due to the exponentially weak (attractive) interaction between well separated domain walls (see below).

Surprisingly, for lower damping, the interaction acquires repulsive parts, so that stable modulated structures can emerge. In fact, for $`h0`$ the interaction becomes purely repulsive so that only periodic modulations exist (see below).

Actually, for $`h=0`$ a static domain wall solution can be found analytically. It reads

$$A_w(x)=A_0\text{sech}(\beta x),\varphi _w(x)=\varphi _0\mathrm{tanh}(\beta x),$$
(13)
where

$$\beta ^2=\frac{1}{1+2D_1},A_0^2=2D_1\beta ^2,\varphi _0^2=2(1+D_1)\beta ^2.$$
(14)
It selects the states $`A=A_0,\varphi =\pm \varphi _0`$ from the continuum of states (9). We have checked numerically and could find no stable static domain wall solution other than (13). We note that since $`\varphi _0^2>1`$ (13) connects stable states.

We mention that the stationary wall (13) is embedded in a continuous family of moving walls connecting inequivalent states (9). Their study is beyond the scopes of the present paper.

Since for $`h0`$ the walls can connect only to the AR states and $`\varphi _{\mathrm{AR}}\pm 1`$ ($`\varphi _0`$) for $`h0`$, this limit has to be clarified. An example of a numerically stable (within the 1D equations) wall for small $`h`$ is shown in Fig. 1. The fields go to their AR values at spatial infinity. However, in the wall region the field $`\varphi `$ exhibits an overshoot approaching the values $`\pm \varphi _0`$ of (13). The overshoot becomes longer and approaches nearer to $`\pm \varphi _0`$ as $`h0`$.

In order to understand this behavior better we study the spatial decay of the solution into the AR state. This is obtained by linearizing Eqs. (10,11) around an AR solution and calculating the spatial exponents. They are

$$p_\pm ^2=h\pm \sqrt{h^2\frac{4h(1h)}{D_1}}.$$
(15)
For $`h0`$ the exponents are complex and tend to zero, which explains the slow decay. The exponents $`p_\pm `$ remain complex for damping constants $`h<h_{\mathrm{osc}}(1+D_1/4)^1`$. We will show that this is the bound up to which domain walls may repel and thus form stable bound states.

### III.2 Interaction of domain walls, modulated structures

In simulations of Eqs. (10,11) one easily finds stable stationary solutions with more than one domain wall. In particular there are periodic solutions which come in two varieties: the ones that preserve the global symmetry $`\varphi \varphi `$ (“symmetric”) and others that do not preserve it (“nonsymmetric”). This section is mainly devoted to periodic solutions. There are also pulse-type states localized around one of the AR solutions as well as nonperiodic extended solutions.

Let us first approach these modulated solutions from the side of large separation between domain walls by studying their interaction. Repulsive interaction is a prerequisite to form stable periodic states and interaction of both signs are necessary to form nonperiodic arrays coullet . The problem is formulated as follows: Two walls are placed symmetrically around the origin at positions $`\pm x_0`$. Then the fields have zero derivative at $`x=0`$. We now focus on the region $`x>0`$, write the amplitude and angle as $`A=A_w(xx_0(t))+a(xx_0(t),t),\varphi =\varphi _w(xx_0(t))+\phi (xx_0(t),t)`$ and substitute these expressions into Eqs. (10,11). In the spirit of small variations and slow (“slaved”) dynamics we keep the terms linear in $`a`$ and $`\phi `$, but neglect the ones that are small and contain time derivatives

$`\dot{x}_0\tau A_w^{}`$ $`=`$ $`(_x^2+13A_w^2\varphi _w^2)a+2A_w\varphi _w\phi ,`$
$`\dot{x}_0\varphi _w^{}`$ $`=`$ $`2A_w\varphi _wa(D_1_x^2+A_wh)\phi ,`$ (16)
where the dot denotes time derivatives and the argument of all functions is $`xx_0`$.

To satisfy the boundary conditions one needs $`a=A_wA_{\mathrm{}},a^{}=A_w^{}`$ and $`\phi =\varphi _w\varphi _{\mathrm{}},\phi ^{}=\varphi _w^{}`$ at $`x=0`$. At the other end $`x\mathrm{}`$ the perturbations $`a`$ and $`\phi `$ should vanish. Multiplying (III.2) by the adjoint of the translational mode $`(A_w^{},\varphi _w^{})`$ and integrating from zero to infinity, we obtain an equation which has on the right hand side only the boundary terms at $`x=0`$. On the left hand side the integrals may be extended to $`\mathrm{}`$ with negligible error leading to

$`(<\varphi _w^2>\tau <A_w^2>)\dot{x}_0=A_w^2+A_w^{\prime \prime }(A_wA_{\mathrm{}})`$
$`D_1(\varphi _w^2+\varphi _w^{\prime \prime }(\varphi _w\varphi _{\mathrm{}}))`$ (17)
where $`<\mathrm{}>_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}𝑑x\mathrm{}`$ . This formula can be used only when the term in brackets on the left hand side is positive, i.e., for

$$\tau <\tau _{accel}<\varphi _w^2>/<A_w^2>.$$
(18)
Otherwise translation becomes an active mode, i.e., one expects spontaneous acceleration of the domain wall. This can be shown by retaining the small time derivative terms omitted in Eqs. (III.2). We will here assume (18) to hold (experimentally this appears to be the case) and comment briefly on the acceleration instability at the end of this section.

In the special case $`h=0`$ and for the wall (13), expression (III.2) can be evaluated leading to

$$[2(1+D_1)\tau D_1]\dot{x}_0=12D_1\beta e^{2\beta x_0}.$$
(19)
Thus, at least for $`\tau <\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}`$ one has $`\dot{x}_0>0`$, i.e., the interaction among walls is repulsive everywhere. This is consistent with the numerical observation of stable periodic solutions and no nonperiodic states.

For $`h0`$ we may use the asymptotic behavior characterized by the exponents in Eq. (15) to evaluate the right hand side of (III.2). In the range of complex exponents $`p_\pm `$, i.e., for $`h<h_{\mathrm{osc}}`$, the interaction is repulsive or attractive depending on the distance between walls. Thus one expects stable periodic solutions in appropriate wavelength intervals as well as nonperiodic structures, in agreement with simulations. An example of a periodic solution is given in Fig. 2 for a field value $`h=0.1`$.

Finally, in the monotonic range $`h_{\mathrm{osc}}<h<1`$, the right hand side of (III.2) is

$$c^2[\frac{D_1p_{}^4}{4h(1h)}1]\mathrm{exp}(2p_{}x_0),$$
(20)
where $`c`$ is a factor that cannot be determined from the asymptotic analysis and $`p_{}`$ is given in (15). One easily sees that the term in square brackets is negative, so that the interaction between domain walls is now attractive. In this range we expect neither stable periodic nor nonperiodic solutions, although, as pointed out before, the lifetime of modulations may be very long.

Let us now continue the symmetric periodic solutions to small wavelengths. Since they conserve the global $`\varphi \varphi `$ symmetry one expects them to bifurcate from the NRs. This is indeed the case. From a simple linear stability analysis one finds that NRs are unstable with respect to periodic modes with wavenumber $`|q|<q_c`$ where

$$q_c(h)=\sqrt{\frac{1h}{D_1}}.$$
(21)
Indeed, the bifurcation is of supercritical type. In Fig. 3, which summarizes our results on symmetric periodic solutions, the minimum period $`L_{\mathrm{min}}=2\pi /q_c(h)`$ is shown (dotted curve).

When the (symmetric) periodic solutions are born they inherit the instability of the NRs with respect to symmetry breaking. For a fixed $`h`$ and by increasing the period we find that they are stabilized at some period $`L_1(h)`$. The curve $`L_1(h)`$ can be calculated by a linear stability analysis. It diverges to infinity for $`hh_{\mathrm{osc}}`$ since above this value no stable periodic solutions are expected to exist according to the asymptotic analysis given earlier. At $`L_1(h)`$ a branch of unstable periodic solutions with broken $`\varphi \varphi `$ symmetry bifurcates from the symmetric periodic solutions. We find that the symmetric periodic solutions lose stability (for the first time) at $`L_2(h)`$ in Fig. 3 and from here on one has a stable nonsymmetric periodic solution, where long and short domains alternate. An example of such a solution is shown in Fig. 4 for $`h=0.1`$. Clearly this is the result of the nonmonotonic behavior of the interaction between domain walls. Presumably the curve $`L_2(h)`$ also diverges at $`h_{\mathrm{osc}}`$.

An example of a more complicated nonperiodic solution is shown in Fig. 5. Such states have been also observed in Ref. coullet . There is no definite distance between the walls and there seems to be no repeated structure. The state can be spatially chaotic.

Equation (III.2) indicates that $`\dot{x}_0`$ diverges at $`\tau =\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}`$. For $`h=0`$ one finds from Eq. (19)

$$\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}=\frac{2(1+D_1)}{D_1}.$$
(22)
Computer simulations show that the static wall is unstable, for $`\tau \tau _{\mathrm{accel}}`$, to a steadily traveling wall. One sees that on crossing the value $`\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}`$ the wall is accelerated while the direction of motion is spontaneously chosen hagberg97 . No further study of moving walls will be given in this paper. We find numerically that $`\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}`$, as calculated from Eq. (18), increases with $`h`$ ($`\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}(h=0)=12,\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}(h=0.1)16.6,\tau _{\mathrm{accel}}(h=0.5)26.6`$ for $`D_1=0.2`$). One could see this also by inspecting the form of the walls.

## IV 2D solutions

### IV.1 Stability of 1D modulations in the plane

In view of the experimental observation of periodic modulations it is essential to study the stability of the solutions discussed in the previous section in the context of the full Eqs. (3,4) in two dimensions. In order to reduce the number of parameters we will in this section consider the case $`c_1=c_2=1`$ appropriate for homeotropic systems. Some results on the case when $`c_1`$ is smaller than $`1`$ will be given in the next section.

For the AR solution (8) one can go through a standard linear stability analysis which gives in the long wavelength limit that, for $`\nu >0`$, ARs become unstable against zig-zag perturbations at $`h=2/3`$ RoHe96 ; axelthesis ; hongthesis . We should also recall that ARs are born from NRs as a stable state at $`h=1`$ which means that they exist stably for

$$h_{\mathrm{AR}}\frac{2}{3}h<1.$$
(23)
The value $`h_{\mathrm{AR}}`$ is denoted by a dash-dotted line in Fig. 3. We use in this paper parameter values typical for the standard substance MBBA. Specifically we take axelthesis

$$D_1=0.2,D_2=0.5,\tau =0.5\nu =0.6.$$
(24)
The positive value for $`\nu `$ indicates that we deal with frequencies above the codimension-2 point where the zig-zag instability of NRs is not operative RoHe96 ; axelthesis ; PlaDe97 ; RuZha98 ; ZhaKra00 .

In order to check the stability of the symmetric periodic solutions found in the previous section against two-dimensional perturbations we have performed a numerical Floquet analysis. Thus we write the perturbations $`a,\phi `$ of a periodic solution $`A_L(x),\varphi _L(x)`$ with period L as

$`a(x,y,t)=e^{\sigma t+is_yy}{\displaystyle \underset{n=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}a_n\mathrm{exp}(i2\pi nx/L),`$ (25)
$`\phi (x,y,t)=e^{\sigma t+is_yy}{\displaystyle \underset{n=\mathrm{}}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}}\phi _n\mathrm{exp}(i2\pi nx/L),`$ (26)
where $`a_n,\phi _n`$ are constants. We linearize (3,4) in the perturbations and expand the coefficient functions in the linearized equation, which have the periodicity L, also in a Fourier series. After truncation a system of linear equations is obtained which can be solved numerically to give the growth rate $`\sigma _i(s_y)`$ for the linear mode with wave vector $`s_y`$. The index $`i`$ runs over the number of Fourier modes used. The number of modes necessary to achieve a prescribed accuracy is found easily by numerical experimentation.

We have focused on periods which lie between the limits $`L_1`$ and $`L_2`$ in Fig. 3, i.e., to solutions which are stable with respect to $`x`$ perturbations. For the parameter values (24) our results are included in Fig. 3 (dashed line). The thin dashes (for $`7.5L13`$) indicate a short wave instability of the corresponding period when crossing the line to the left. The thick dashes (for $`5.7L7.5`$) indicate a long wave instability. It is most interesting that the present instabilities occur for a value of $`h`$ considerably smaller than $`h_{\mathrm{AR}}`$ which means that there are stable periodic solutions for values of $`h`$ for which the ARs are unstable.

We give the numerical values for the stability limits and the wave vector $`s_y`$ of the unstable mode for some periodic solutions that we typically use in the simulations of this section (they fit into our typical system length of 64):

$`\text{period}8:0.23<`$ $`h`$ $`<0.67,s_y=0.67,`$
$`\text{period}9.14:0.30<`$ $`h`$ $`<0.74,s_y=0.69,`$
$`\text{period}12.8:0.42<`$ $`h`$ $`<0.85,s_y=0.66.`$ (27)
The lower limit corresponds to the short wave instability along the $`y`$ direction with wave vector $`s_y`$. The upper limit is due to the instability along the $`x`$ direction (curve $`L_1`$ in Fig. 3).

We conclude that by decreasing the parameter $`h`$ (which corresponds to increasing the voltage or decreasing the magnetic field in a relevant experiment) below $`h_{\mathrm{AR}}`$ the ARs become unstable but periodic states with certain periods remain stable. They are then expected to be observable under appropriate experimental conditions. As an example we quote the experiments of Ref. BuTo00  for which the appropriate parameter values are close to (24) that we use throughout this section. It is reported that for a control parameter corresponding to $`h=0.4`$ in our theory, periodic modulations of the director orientation are observed. Indeed this value falls into the range where ARs are unstable but some periodic states are expected to be stable. Concerning the periodicity, the tendency towards shorter wavelengths with increasing voltage reported in BuTo00  is consistent with our results.

### IV.2 2D modulated structures

We now proceed to investigate how the system evolves once the periodic states are destabilized at small values of $`h`$, that is, once we cross to the left of the dashed line in Fig. 3. For this purpose we have used a pseudospectral algorithm which simulates the time evolution of Eqs. (3,4) which we describe briefly in the following. The linear part of the equation is tranformed into Fourier space and the analytic formula for its time evolution is implemented in the algorithm. For the nonlinear part we work in real space and integrate it in time using a variation of the Euler method. We use periodic boundary conditions in both space dimensions which are practically enforced by the use of Fourier modes. We typically use $`128\times 128`$ modes in the two space directions while our physical space has dimensions $`64\times 64`$ units. Due to the special treatment of the linear part, pseudospectral algorithms allow for a relatively large time step. We typically take $`\delta t=0.05`$ when we use the parameter values (24).

We start a simulation of Eqs. (3,4) with a state that is periodic in $`x`$, e.g. with period 9.14. The state is stable in the parameter range given in Eq. (IV.1). When we reduce the field $`h`$ slightly below the value 0.30 we find that the pattern is destabilized and modulations along the $`y`$ direction appear. The pattern becomes periodic in both spatial dimensions. We give an example of such a state in Figs. 6, 7 where the fields $`|A|`$ and $`\varphi `$ are shown, respectively. The state describes modulations in 2D and has no defects. It was obtained for $`h=0.28`$. We note that the state in Figs. 6,7 is not fully static. It persist for a long time but it is eventually modified through the creation of defects. The system presents persistent dynamics until the end of our simulation, nevertheless, the 2D correlations are preserved to a large extent.

In general, the 2D modulated states reached slightly below the destabilization of 1D periodic modulations are delicate and we have not been able to find a truly static one. The near-periodicity of the final states in both spatial directions is readily seen in the figures resulting from our simulations.

An interesting point is that the defects which are typically created in these processes also show strong 2D correlations. In fact a slightly disordered defect lattice is the usual outcome of such numerical simulations. An example of a reasonably developed defect lattice is presented in Fig. 8 through the field $`|A|`$. It was obtained by starting the simulation with a periodic state with period 9.14. We used the value $`h=0.27`$ and the other parameters as in (24). The initial 1D periodic state is then unstable and evolves into the defect lattice. The time evolution shows that the state has some substantial dynamics but it always remains close to the picture of Fig. 8. Finally, in Fig. 9 we give the $`\varphi `$ field of the defect lattice of Fig. 8. The $`\varphi `$ field is predominantly varying in the $`x`$ direction with small modulations in $`y`$.

On further reducing the parameter $`h`$ the resulting pattern becomes progressively more disordered. A defect chaotic state is eventually obtained for small values of the parameter. In Fig. 10 we show such a state for $`h=0.1`$. These defect-chaotic states deserve to be studied on their own right but a full investigation of this problem is beyond the scopes of the present paper.

It is not easy to predict in what way the states that we study here would appear in an experiment. Details of the experimental procedure could be important and the final result can be complicated as is indicated, e.g., by Fig. 7 in BuTo00  where roughly periodic states without defects are found. In order to observe defect lattices in homeotropic cells one should remain at small values of $`\epsilon `$ so that the director angle does not become very large. Otherwise a transition to CRAZY rolls occurs first, which entails formation of disclinations in the director field RoEb00 ; BuTo00 . Also, at higher values of $`\epsilon `$, mean-flow effects not included in our simple description become important.

Let us describe the protocol of a numerical simulation which may give some guidance for experiments. The simulations are performed on a $`64\times 64`$ domain. We start at a field $`h`$ above $`h_{\mathrm{AR}}`$ ($`h=0.7`$) with small spatially random initial conditions of the fields $`A,\varphi `$. Experimentally this corresponds to jumping from below the EC threshold directly into the region of stable ARs. Typically, large domains with both AR states appear, separated by walls in the $`x`$ direction. We then jump to $`h=0.4`$ where ARs are destabilized while defects are created and a state with 2D correlations sets in. The final state is roughly periodic with period 12.8 in the $`x`$ direction (5 periods in the domain) and 16 in the $`y`$ direction (4 periods in the domain). The defects are also roughly ordered in a lattice. After this we increase $`h`$ gradually in steps of $`\delta h=0.02`$ and let the system relax in every step for 1000 time units. Although the system never relaxes to a static state, we observe clearly correlations in both spatial directions with the defects approximately ordered in arrays until $`h=0.44`$ is reached. For $`h0.46`$ the defects annihilate and the system relaxes to a static 1D periodic state with period 12.8. The process described above seems robust in our simulations. Note the interesting fact that there is a range of stable coexistence of the fully ordered 1D state (it is stable down to $`h=0.42`$) and the 2D solution.

Defect lattices have in fact been observed in planar EC nasuno ; BeJo97  at fairly high frequencies. A theoretical description for these systems by a much more elaborate quantitative theory has been developed recently berndthesis .

## V Static chevrons

Here we will relax the condition $`c_1=c_2=1`$ by reducing $`c_1`$ (slightly) below $`1`$. This has no influence on the 1D solutions and their stability with respect to $`x`$ dependent fluctuations and increases the range of stability with respect to $`y`$ variations. In fact the critical value of $`h`$ for the zig-zag destabilization of the periodic solutions (dashed line in Fig. 3) is reduced. For example, the period 9.14 is stable in the range

$$0.19<h<0.74,\text{when}c_1=0.9,c_2=1,$$
(28)
which should be compared to Eq. (IV.1). For values of $`h`$ beyond the instability the states that we obtain are similar to the ones found above for $`c_1=1`$. Namely, we observe states with 2D order close to the instability point (with some hysteresis), which get progressively less ordered as $`h`$ is decreased. When $`c_1`$ is decreased further the stable range of the periodic solutions extends to progressively lower values of $`h`$. In fact, for $`c_1<0.77`$ the 1D solutions with period 9.14 are stable down to $`h=0`$.

For $`h=0`$ we obtain a novel static pattern containing lines (or bands, i.e., multiple lines) of defects along the $`y`$ direction which resemble the usual chevron states, except that those are dynamic. In Figs. 11 and 12 such a solution is presented for $`c_1=0.9`$. The defects (zeros of $`|A|`$) are located at the dark points in Fig. 11. Within one band all defects have the same topological charge and this is alternating from band to band. The dark regions between defect bands imply a small value of $`|A|`$. As one sees from Fig. 12 the field $`\varphi `$ varies periodically essentially only in $`x`$, and thus is very reminiscent of the 1D patterns discussed before. We call these new patterns “static chevrons”. They are formed from random initial conditions.

The static chevrons persist for small nonzero values of the parameter $`h`$. If we let the chevron states be created for $`h=0`$ and then increase $`h`$ the static chevrons persist up to $`h0.015`$ for the parameters used here. Increasing $`h`$ further ($`h=0.02`$) we observe that more defect bands are created, that is, we have chevrons with a shorter period, but these are now the dynamic chevrons presented previously for $`c_1=1`$ RoKra98 ; axelthesis . For even larger values of $`h`$ one reaches the much less correlated defect chaotic state discussed before. For $`c_1`$ closer to $`1`$ the correlations become weaker.

To gain an understanding of static chevrons we first note that the states between the defect bands should be interpreted as (approximately) homogeneous states with nonzero wavenumber $`P`$ in the $`y`$ direction, i.e., with complex amplitude

$$A=A_0e^{\pm iPy},$$
(29)
where the sign in the exponent alternates between neighboring regions and the magnitude of $`P`$ is related to the number of defects $`\rho `$ per unit length in one band through the relation

$$\rho =\frac{P}{\pi }.$$
(30)
This follows directly from the fact that each defect contributes a phase change of $`\pm 2\pi `$, depending on its topological charge. In the simulations we find that $`\varphi `$ and $`P`$ take values close to

$$\varphi _A=\pm \frac{1}{\sqrt{1c_1^2}}\text{and}P_A=c_1\varphi _A,$$
(31)
in the region between the defect bands while $`A_0`$ is small as was already mentioned.

The uniform solutions are described by equating the right-hand sides of Eqs. (II) to zero. The resulting cubic equation for $`\varphi _0`$ can be written as

$`(\varphi _0c_2P)^32\varphi _0(1c_1c_2)(\varphi _0c_2P)^2`$
$`+[(1+c_2^22c_1c_2)\varphi _0^2c_2^2](\varphi _0c_2P)+hc_2^2\varphi _0=0.`$ (32)
In the limit $`h0`$ one of the solutions tends to

$$A_0^2=1\frac{1+c_2^22c_1c_2}{c_2^2}\varphi _0^2,\varphi _0=Pc_2,$$
(33)
and the other two tend to

$$A_0=0,\varphi _0=c_1P\pm \sqrt{1P^2(1c_1^2)}.$$
(34)
Here one has to impose the additional restriction that $`\varphi _0/(\varphi _0c_2P)>0`$, since otherwise $`A_0^2`$ is not positive for $`h`$ slightly away from zero. In Fig. 13 $`\varphi `$ is sketched for these limiting solutions as a function of $`P`$ (solid lines). The solution (33) is the continuation of the NRs to nonzero $`P`$. Similarly, (34) represents the continuation of ARs. The two lines join at point B in Fig. 13.

We can now see that the states between the defect bands given in Eq. (31) correspond (approximately) to the continued ARs of Eq. (34) with the maximal $`|\varphi _0|`$. Thus the defect bands connect between the two symmetry degenerate versions of this state. A simple stability analysis explains why this state is selected. We write $`A=A_0+a`$ and $`\varphi =\varphi _0+\phi `$ and linearize Eqs. (3,4) in $`a,\phi `$. For $`A_0=0`$ the two equations separate and we obtain the following expression for the growth rate of the mode involving $`a`$

$$\tau \sigma =1s_x^2s_y^2+2c_1c_2\varphi _0s_yc_2^2\varphi _0^2.$$
(35)
One easily checks that all states are unstable against fluctuations along $`y`$ except for the state (31), which is marginally stable. The latter is denoted by the letter A in Fig. 13.

The static chevron states which are periodic and describe spatial oscillations between the states (31) need not be themselves marginally stable. On the contrary, they are numerically found to be quite robust. This observation is in agreement with the results of Sec. IV.1 that the 1D periodic states are stable even for parameter values for which the uniform states are unstable.

The effect of the value of $`c_1`$ on the chevron states is rather profound. This is seen by the (approximate) relation giving the density of defects in the chevrons which can be found using Eqs. (30) and (31):

$$\rho =\frac{c_1}{\pi \sqrt{1c_1^2}}.$$
(36)
Thus, as $`c_1`$ approaches $`1`$ the defect bands become broader (the separation between defects inside a band is rather independent of parameters). In the limit $`c_11`$ one expects existence of an infinite lattice of defects with the same polarity, but this is not accessible numerically, and presumably also not experimentally. On the other hand, as $`c_1`$ decreases, the number of defects per unit length decreases quickly reaching a situation with a single chain in a band. Decreasing $`c_1`$ further one reaches a critical value below which no defects are created. Instead one has the 1D periodic modulations without defects which are here stable also for $`h=0`$ (see above).

We have mentioned already that static chevrons persist to slightly nonzero $`h`$. In order to understand the defect-free regions for this case we have studied the homogeneous solutions as obtained from Eq. (34). In Fig. 13 we also show $`\varphi _0`$ for the case $`h=0.1`$ (dashed). Analyzing the stability we found that there is a small interval around the states with maximal $`|\varphi _0|`$ which are stable. This shows that the disappearance of static chevrons for increasing $`h`$ is not a result of the homogeneous regions becoming unstable, but rather the defect bands destabilize, which is also observed in simulations.

## VI Concluding remarks

Motivated in particular by experiments in electroconvection in homeotropically aligned nematics RoEb00 ; BuTo00  we have studied some classes of modulated solutions of the Ginzburg-Landau equation for the complex order parameter $`A`$ describing the bifurcation to a stationary roll pattern, coupled to a weakly damped (or even undamped) homogeneous mode $`\varphi `$ describing the orientation of the in-plane director, see Eqs. (II,II) (unscaled) or Eqs. (3,4) (scaled). The most important parameter $`h`$ in these equations gives the ratio of the aligning torque on the director over the destabilizing torque of normal rolls. The latter is proportional to the supercriticality parameter $`\epsilon `$. Another important parameter $`\nu `$ in the equations characterizes the action of the gradient of the in-plane director on the phase of the rolls, which can be controlled experimentally by varying the frequency. Our study is relevant for $`\nu >0`$, which is the case in the upper-frequency conduction range and presumably also in the dielectric range Ro00 .

The solutions we considered are characterized by modulations in the direction perpendicular to normal rolls (parallel to the wave vector). There exists a surprisingly rich spectrum of stable solutions of this type even in the range of control parameter where most homogeneous states have lost stability. The simplest type has only variations in the direction of the wavevector (1D structures). When such variations arise they lead to the creation of defects, except in a small control parameter region where 2D defect-free modulations may exist metastably. The solutions with defects range from essentially fully spatially ordered defect lattices to defect chaos with various degrees of spatial correlations. Their detailed study appears interesting, but is beyond the scope of this paper. The complexity of the solutions, as well as their dynamics, generally increase with decreasing $`h`$. For very small values of $`h`$, however, defects show the tendency to order along chains (or bands) yielding chevron structures. One mechanism for the generation of dynamic chevrons has been related to a Turing instability RoKra98 ; axelthesis . We have found for $`c_1<1`$ a new type of fully ordered, static chevrons that appear more related to the 1D structures.

Focusing on the in-plane (= $`\widehat{c}`$) director field, the modulations occur along the direction of prealignment of the in-plane director (from this point of view they give rise to “bend” distortions). In fact, there is a long history of observations of such modulated states under an electric field in highly-doped MBBA TruBliBa80 ; NaLuGi81 ; HuHiRo00 ; HuHiYu01  and other nematic materials WePe88 ; EbToBu00  at high frequency, often without detectable convection rolls. They come under the name of “wide domains” TruBliBa80 ; NaLuGi81 ; WePe88  or “prechevrons” HuHiRo00 ; HuHiYu01 . Since such structures cannot be explained purely statically, it seems reasonable to assume that they are secondary structures of the type discussed here. The mechanism for the generation of the primary roll pattern, which may not be visible, is presumably different from the usual Carr-Helfrich mechanism. In fact, it was shown that the driving mechanism persisted above the nematic-isotropic transition HuHiYu01 . Moreover, in WePe88  it was shown that a treatment of the bounding plates by tensides led to a considerable increase of the frequency range where the wide domains appeared. These findings, which are consistent with some old results RiDu79 , indicate that an isotropic mechanism with rolls confined to the boundaries is involved.

It was found that even after the wide domains have formed the usual electroconvection would set in at the expected threshold HuHiRo00 ; HuHiYu01 . In the dielectric regime this would lead directly to perfectly ordered chevrons that have an appearance like the static chevrons presented above.

While states modulated only along the direction of the wavevector have been observed to some extent, the observation of corresponding two-dimensional modulations without defects is lacking. This may be due to the small parameter range where such 2D modulations occur and also because of their apparent metastability. An experimental effort in this direction appears interesting. The present results suggest that the objective should be to observe successively the 1D and 2D modulations and the chevron states and to test if they can be related to each other according to the present theory.

Equations (3,4) also allow for solutions which are modulated only along the rolls (perpendicular to the prealignment of the in-plane director, giving rise to a “splay” distortion). Then the phase of the patterning mode (i.e., the phase of $`A`$) comes into play, and the periodic solutions in fact correspond to zig-zag patterns. Such states are of relevance for smaller values of $`\nu `$, in particular for $`\nu <0`$. Near the zig-zag instability of normal rolls, which occurs at $`h=1\nu `$, and thus precedes the transition to abnormal rolls for $`\nu <0`$, the periodic patterns are unstable. For smaller values of $`h`$ (larger $`\epsilon `$) there are various types of periodic patterns. The scenario is enriched by the fact that the usual defects (point dislocations) can extend in the direction perpendicular to the rolls to form phase slip lines hongthesis .

In order to extend the treatment to larger $`\epsilon `$ one has to use more complicated equations derivable from an extended nonlinear analysis, which includes in particular mean flow. For planar convection in the conduction regime the analysis has been carried out and relevant solutions involving in particular realistic defect lattices have been studied berndthesis . For the dielectric regime an extended weakly nonlinear study was presented in Ro00 . The system appears interesting in view of its parameters $`c_1=c_2=\nu =0.98`$ calculated under neglect of flexoelectric effects, which are of more relevance in the dielectric regime (note that in Ref. Ro00  the $`c_i`$ correspond to our $`C_i`$). There is hope to find static chevrons if the aligning torque could be made sufficiently small by applying a destabilizing magnetic field. One might use this technique also in the conduction range where $`c_1`$ is substantially smaller than $`1`$ berndthesis . However, one may then have to include higher-order terms in Eq. (4).

###### Acknowledgements.

We wish to thank Á. Buka, N. Éber, B. Dressel, W. Pesch, and A.G. Rossberg for useful discussions. We are grateful to A.G. Rossberg for making available his method and code for identifying defects defectlocate . Financial support from the European graduate school “Non-equilibrium phenomena and phase transitions in complex systems”, by DFG under contract KR 690/16-1, and from the TMR program ERBFMRXCT960085 funded by EU is gratefully acknowledged.