The Static and Dynamic Continuum Theory of Liquid Crystals

Download or read book The Static and Dynamic Continuum Theory of Liquid Crystals written by Iain W. Stewart and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-01-10 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the widespread interest in macroscopic phenomena in liquid crystals, stemming from their applications in displays and devices. The need has arisen for a rigorous yet accessible text suitable for graduate students, whatever their scientific background. This book satisfies that need. The approach taken in this text, is to introduce the basic continuum theory for nematic liquid crystals in equilibria, then it proceeds to simple application of this theory- in particular, there is a discussion of electrical and magnetic field effects which give rise to Freedericksz transitions, which are important in devices. This is followed by an account of dynamic theory and elementary viscometry of nemantics Discussions of backflow and flow-induced instabilities are also included. Smetic theory is also briefly introduced and summarised with some examples of equilibrium solutions as well as those with dynamic effects. A number of mathematical techniques, such as Cartesian tensors and some variational calculus, are presented in the appendices.