An experimental and theoretical study of lyotropic chromonic liquid crystals(LCLCs) confined in cylinders with degenerate planar boundary conditionselucidates LCLC director configurations. When the Frank saddle-splay modulus ismore than twice the twist modulus, the ground state adopts an inhomogeneousescaped-twisted configuration. Analysis of the configuration yields a largesaddle-splay modulus, which violates Ericksen inequalities but notthermodynamic stability. Lastly, we observe point defects betweenopposite-handed domains and explain a preference for point defects over domainwalls.
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