Arghir Zarnescu
Afilliation: University of Sussex
Title: Specific tensorial features in the modelling of nematic liquid crystals
Abstract: Nematic liquid crystals are modelled mathematically using
either: unit-length vectors in the Oseen-Frank theory (2 degrees of freedom),
scalars and unit-length vectors in Ericksen theory (3 degrees of freedom)
or symmetric and traceless 3x3 matrices in Landau-de Gennes theory (5
degrees of freedom).
We will look into specific features of nematics that require a
tensorial description, with an emphasis on the interpretation of defects in various theories.
