Phase ordering in nematic liquid crystals - art. no. 021701

We study the kinetics of the nematic-isotropic transition in a two-dimensio nal liquid crystal by using a lattice Boltzmann scheme that couples the ten sor order parameter and the flow consistently. Unlike in previous studies, we find that the time dependences of the correlation function, energy densi ty, and number of topological defects obey dynamic scaling laws with growth exponents that, within the numerical uncertainties, agree with the value 1 /2 expected from simple dimensional analysis. We find that these values are not altered by the hydrodynamic flow. In addition, by examining shallow qu enches, we find that the presence of orientational disorder can inhibit amp litude ordering.