Cluster formation of colloids in nematics

Abstract Colloidal suspension show interesting phenomena which are mediated by the solvent. Recently, colloids in nematic liquid crystal phase used as anisotropic solvent have been investigated experimentally and have inspired theoretical work[1-3]. In relation to these work, effective pair potential between spherical colloidal particles suspended in nematic liquid crystals has been suggested[4,5]. The interparticle interaction can cause nontrivial collective behavior that results in formation of new spatial structures in colloidal particle systems. We determine these structures by particle dynamics simulations using these effective pair-interaction.