Adiabatic optical following in a twisted nematic (source code)

= Adiabatic optical following in a twisted nematic
{title2=$|\Delta k|\gg|\phi'|$}

When the <birefringence> separation of optical propagation constants $\Delta k=2\pi\Delta n/\lambda$ is large compared with the spatial rate of rotation of the optical axes, light with <linear polarization> in a local eigenpolarization follows the twisting <nematic director>. Thickness alone is insufficient if <birefringence> vanishes. Strong field alignment along the propagation direction suppresses the transverse optical anisotropy and hence the quarter-turn polarization rotation.