Etienne Brasselet, Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitain, Université de Bordeaux.

 Liquid crystals are well-known for their exquisite sensitivity to external fields and their ability to tailor the amplitude, phase and polarization of light fields. The interplay between the topological features of liquid crystals and that of electromagnetic fields offers a playground for exploring various aspects of optical phenomena driven by the spin-orbit interaction of light, which will be reviewed.