Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 5: Soft Matter I

DY 5.3: Talk

Monday, March 26, 2012, 15:30–15:45, MA 004

Orientational dynamics of nematic liquid crystals under shear flow: Stability and growth of dynamical modes in inhomogeneous systems. — •David A. Strehober and Sabine H. L. Klapp — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstr. 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany

We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of rodlike nematic polymers under shear flow. We employ a mesoscopic description, and use the alignment tensor as an order parameter. Five coupled partial differential equations describe the dynamics of the alignment tensor [1][2]. The rheological phase diagram with respect to the shear rate and reduced temperature are investigated for the homogeneous case. We employ numerical continuation methods [3], to obtain the boundaries between different dynamic states. We also check the validity of the results for the 1D inhomogeneous case and discuss differences to the homogeneous case. We conclude the talk with results of the investigation of domain growth of dynamic states.
[1] S. Hess, Z.Naturforsch. A 31a, 1034 (1976)
[2] S. Grandner, S. Heidenreich, S. Hess and S. H. L. Klapp, Eur.Phys.J. E 24, 353 (2007)
[3] A. Dhooge, W. Govaerts, and Yu. A. Kuznetsov., ACM Trans. Math. Softw. 29, (2003)