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.