Thomson’s problem of placing charges on a sphere was investigated as an example of a system involving complex interactions. By assuming certain symmetries to exist, it was possible to use a larger number of charges than ever before. It was found that, when the number of charges was large enough, the lowest-energy states were not those having the highest symmetry. As predicted previously, the complex patterns in these states involved dislocation defects which screened the strains of the 12 disclinations which were required in order to satisfy Euler's theorem.

Influence of Dislocations in Thomson's Problem. A.Pérez-Garrido, M.J.W.Dodgson, M.A.Moore: Physical Review B, 1997, 56[7], 3640-3