| This work is devoted to analyzing a model used in the physics literature to study how in columnar phases the width of the column affects the type of switching, which occurs under an applied electric field. We first prove existence of minimizers, and then we derive the Euler-Lagrange equations. We then show via Gamma-convergence that as the width of the column tends to infinity, rotation around the tilt cone is favored, provided the coefficient of the coupling term, between the polar parameter, the nernatic parameter, and the layer normal is large. |
