Duality between the dynamics of line-like brushes of point defects in 2D and strings in 3D in liquid crystals

We analyze the dynamics of dark brushes connecting point vortices of strength ±1 formed in the isotropic-nematic phase transition of a thin layer of nematic liquid crystals, using a crossed polarizer set up. The evolution of the brushes is seen to be remarkably similar to the evolution of line defects in a three-dimensional nematic liquid crystal system. Even phenomena like the intercommutativity of strings are routinely observed in the dynamics of brushes. We test the hypothesis of a duality between the two systems by determining exponents for the coarsening of total brush length with time as well as shrinking of the size of an isolated loop. Our results show scaling behavior for the brush length as well as the loop size with corresponding exponents in good agreement with the 3D case of string defects.