Asymptotic Expansion of a Maier-Saupe Type Potential Near the Nematic-Isotropic Transition Point in Liquid Crystals

Authors

Ryan P. ONeill, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Giangvuthanh Nguyen, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Xiang Xu, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

Disciplines

Other Applied Mathematics | Partial Differential Equations

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25778/2e2t-ng92

Abstract

In this paper we study a Maier-Saupe type bulk potential (Maier & Saupe, 1959) in the Landau-de Gennes free energy in the Q-tensor theory modeling nematic liquid crystal configurations. This potential was originally introduced in Katriel et al. (1986), which is considered as a natural enforcement of a physical constraint on the eigenvalues of symmetric, traceless Q-tensors. More specifically, we present a rigorous derivation of the asymptotic expansion of this singular potential near the nematic-isotropic transition point up to the 4-th order.

Recommended Citation

ONeill, Ryan P.; Nguyen, Giangvuthanh; and Xu, Xiang (2024) "Asymptotic Expansion of a Maier-Saupe Type Potential Near the Nematic-Isotropic Transition Point in Liquid Crystals," OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 11, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25778/2e2t-ng92
Available at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/ourj/vol11/iss1/2