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SUMMARY:Interfaces with singularities: understanding phase transitions in 
 nematic liquid crystals - Dmitry Golovaty (University of Akron)
DTSTART:20190118T094500Z
DTEND:20190118T103000Z
UID:TALK117121@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:INI IT
DESCRIPTION:Experimental data indicates that the nematic-to-isotropic phas
 e transition in liquid crystals may proceed via evolution of interfaces th
 at are not smooth.  In this talk\, our goal is to provide a possible expla
 nation for the observed singularities of the phase boundaries. <br> <br> I
 n order to develop an initial understanding of transitions between the ord
 ered and disordered states\, we formulate a simple toy model based on the 
 modified Ginzburg-Landau-type energy defined over vector fields on the pla
 ne. The corresponding variational model consists of anisotropic gradient t
 erms and a potential that vanishes on two disconnected sets.  <br> <br> Th
 e principal observation from the study of the simplified model is that the
  phase boundary singularities can be explained by large disparity between 
 the elastic constants in the gradient contribution to the energy. In the t
 alk we will present a combination of rigorous analysis and numerics that l
 eads to this conclusion. This is a joint work with Michael Novack\, Peter 
 Sternberg\, and Raghavendra Venkatraman.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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