LAUSR

In this paper we study qualitative properties of global minimizers of the Ginzburg–Landau energy which describes light–matter interaction in the theory of nematic liquid crystals near the Fréedericksz transition. This model depends on two parameters: $$\epsilon >0$$ϵ>0 which is small and represents the coherence scale of the system and $$a\ge 0$$a≥0 which represents the intensity of the applied laser light. In particular, we are interested in the phenomenon of symmetry breaking as a and $$\epsilon $$ϵ vary. We show that when $$a=0$$a=0 the global minimizer is radially symmetric and unique and that its symmetry is instantly broken as $$a>0$$a>0 and then restored for sufficiently large values of a. Symmetry breaking is associated with the presence of a new type of topological defect which we named the shadow vortex. The symmetry breaking scenario is a rigorous confirmation of experimental and numerical results obtained earlier in Barboza et al. (Phys Rev E 93(5):050201, 2016).