Coupling between elastic deformation and concentration in a two-component nematic liquid crystal

It is shown that a coupling between elastic deformation and concentration can exist in a two-component nematic liquid crystal. A simple phenomenological extension of the theory of elastic deformations in nematics to this case is presented. An experimental geometry where the strength of this effect may be estimated is discussed. Further, this coupling is shown to lead to lower energies of disclinations and may account for the experimentally observed stability of some high-strength disclinations in a doped nematic