Chaotic Dynamics in the Electroconvection System of a Nematic Liquid Crystal

The transition from a steady domain structure to turbulence in the electroconvection system of a nematic under the action of a constant electric field is studied using the methods of optical and acoustic responses. The chaotic dynamics is investigated both by conventional methods (Fourier signal spectrum) and by methods of nonlinear dynamics. From the quantitative estimates of basic characteristics of the chaotic behavior (namely, the correlation dimension, leading Lyapunov exponent, K-entropy, and embedding dimension), one can conclude that temporal chaos arises in the system, giving rise to a strange attractor, as the control parameter increases at ɛ ≥ ɛc ≈ 0.5. The fact that the distribution of laminar domains in the liquid-crystal layer depends on their length under the conditions of developed turbulence indicates that the dynamics of the nematic demonstrates the intermittent behavior.