MLC

Abstract

If the Q-tensor order parameter is interpreted as a normalised matrix of second moments of a probability measure on the unit sphere, its eigenvalues are bounded below by -1/3 and above by 2/3. This constraint raises questions regarding the physical predictions of theories which employ the Q-tensor; it also raises analytical issues in both static and dynamic Q-tensor theories of nematic liquid crystals. John Ball and Apala Majumdar recently constructed a singular map on traceless, symmetric matrices that penalises unphysical Q-tensors by giving them an infinite energy cost. In this talk, I shall discuss some mathematical results for a modified Beris-Edwards model of nematic dynamics into which this map is built, including the existence, regularity and so-called `strict physicality' of its weak solutions.