We model both the photostationary state and dynamics of an illuminated, photosensitive, glassy liquid crystalline sheet. To illustrate the interplay between local tilt $\theta$ of the sheet, effective incident intensity, curvature, and dynamics, we adopt the simplest variation of local incident light intensity with angle, that is, $cos\theta$. The tilt in the stationary state never overshoots the vertical, but maximum curvature could be seen in the middle of the sheet for intense light. In dynamics, overshoot and self-eclipsing arise, revealing how important moving fronts of light penetration are. Eclipsing is qualitatively as in the experiments of Yu et al. [Y. Yu, M. Nakano, and T. Ikeda, Nature (London) 425, 145 (2003)].

• Received 15 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.92.013206