Date and Time: 29th April (Tuesday) at 11.30 am- 12:30 pm.

Venue: Ramanujan Hall, Department of Mathematics, IIT Bombay.

Speaker: Professor Apala Majumdar; Department of Mathematics and

Statistics, FRSE and FIMA, University of Strathclyde.

Title of the talk: Continuum Theories for Liquid Crystals and their Applications

Abstract: Liquid crystals are classical examples of partially ordered

materials that combine fluidity with the directionality of solids.

Liquid crystals are anisotropic materials, with direction-dependent

physical, optical and rheological properties, making them the working

material of choice for a range of opto-electronic devices, e.g.,

liquid crystal displays, photonics, sensors, photovoltaics etc. In

this talk, we review the mathematical theories for three canonical

liquid crystal phases: nematic liquid crystals, smectic liquid

crystals and cholesteric liquid crystals. We focus on Landau-de Gennes

type theories for these phases and describe the essential mathematical

frameworks - the liquid crystal order parameters, the free energies,

the governing systems of partial differential equations and their

solution landscapes. We conclude with some case studies that

illustrate the applications of these mathematical frameworks to

prototype devices and real-life experiments. All collaborations will

be acknowledged throughout the talk.