Abstract
This paper covers two different but related topics, concerning applications of two kinds of classical theories to line defects. I start the story with a quotation from Nabarro [1], following his interesting Tribute to J. D. Eshelby, “Eshelby maintained this distinction1 rigorously. When he calculated the force between parallel disclinations in a nematic liquid crystal and found that “the supposedly configurational force in a nematic is in fact a real force exerted on the core of the dislocation by the surrounding medium”, he was very disturbed, and he circulated the draft of his paper2 [2] to many colleagues before publishing it.” I was one of the many and, not long before he died, we happened to attend the same meeting, giving us a chance to discuss the matter. My memory is hardly faultless, but I do remember that I mentioned observations which seemed to me relevant, to be mentioned later, but it was obvious that nothing we said brought us closer to a meeting of minds. The idea that a mechanical force might act on a defect has always seemed reasonable to me, but not to him, so I had trouble understanding what it really was that upset him. Since then, much the same issue has come up in discussions and correspondence with a number of workers, indicating that there is quite a bit of confusion about relevant basic concepts, and that there are differences of opinion about this matter of whether defects can feel those mechanical forces.
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Dedicated to Paul M. Naghdi on the occasion of his 70th birthday
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© 1995 Birkhäuser Verlag Basel/Switzerland
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Ericksen, J.L. (1995). Remarks concerning forces on line defects. In: Casey, J., Crochet, M.J. (eds) Theoretical, Experimental, and Numerical Contributions to the Mechanics of Fluids and Solids. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-9229-2_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-9229-2_14
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