Dr. Yucen Han, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, UK

Xin Liu, Professor

Solution Landscapes of Nematic Liquid Crystal Systems

15:00-17:00 May 4 (Thursday) 2023, Tencent Meeting: 162-625-468

Nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) are anisotropic material intermediate that combines the fluidity of liquids with the orientational order of solids. NLCs are best known for their applications in the thriving liquid crystal display industry. They have tremendous potential in nanoscience, biophysics and material design, all of which rely on scientific computing, applied analysis and mathematical modelling for studying stable/unstable NLC states, switching mechanisms, and dynamical processes on energy landscapes. Within the Landau-de Gennes framework, we study the effects of geometry, anisotropic elasticity and magnetic field on the stable states. We systematically investigate the solution landscapes for NLCs, through which we report new stable states, high-index unstable states with multiple interior defects and novel transition pathways.

In addition, we work on modelling complex biological LC systems e.g. membrane fusion and the interaction of nematic tactoids with bacteria.

报告人简介: Yucen Han is a Newton International Fellow and a Research Associate at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, UK, working with Prof. Apala Majumdar since November 2020. She received her Ph.D. in computational mathematics from Peking University in 2020 (supervised by Prof. Lei Zhang) and her B.S. degree from Jilin University in 2015.

Her research is primarily in the mathematics and modelling of nematic liquid crystals and partially ordered materials. She works at the interface of scientific computing, mathematical modelling and applied analysis and is interested in applications in industry.