Colloquium: Chevron structures in smectic A liquid crystals.
Event Description:
Title: Chevron structures in smectic A liquid crystals.
Abstract:
We study the de Gennes free energy for smectic A liquid crystals to understand the chevron pattern formed in the presence of an applied magnetic field. We identify a small parameter $\epsilon$, and investigate via $\Gamma$-convergence the behaviors of the minimizers when the field strength is of order $\mathcal{O}(\epsilon^{-1})$. We also analyze the more general Chen-Lubensky free energy, and obtain an analogous picture. Numerical simulations illustrating the chevron structures for both energies are included. This is joint work with
C. Garcia-Cerveira and S. Joo.
Event Contact
Contact Name: Stephen Lau