Field Effects in Nematic Liquid Crystals in Terms of Catastrophe Theory

The field effects in nematic liquid crystal layers are reanalysed using catastrophe theory. The layer with pretilted director orientation and obliquely applied magnetic field, the hybrid aligned nematic cell and twisted nematic structures are considered. The stable solutions are identified and transitions between them are specified. The results are in essential agreement with previous work. Some details concerning the behaviour near the threshold are revealed.