On plane defects in nematic liquid crystals with variable degree of orientation (Q1204052)

In a recent paper [\textit{J. L. Ericksen}, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 113, No. 2, 97-120 (1991; Zbl 0729.76008)], a new mathematical theory is formulated for nematic liquid crystals by introducing an additional scalar variable \(s\in[-{1\over 2},1]\) into the theory to describe the variable degree of microscopic order in the material. Employing this theory, the authors formulate a variational problem for a sample of nematic liquid crystal confined between two large, parallel flat plates where the total free energy is given by the functional \[ F[s,n]=\kappa\int_ V(k|\nabla s|^ 2+s^ 2|\nabla n|^ 2+\psi(s))dV. \] Here \(n\) is the director, \(\kappa\) and \(k\) are positive constants, \(V\) is the region occupied by the material and \(\psi(s)\) is a double well potential function with a local as well as a global minimum at \(s_ 0\). After discussing qualitative properties of the minimizers of \(F[s,n]\) subject to prescribed values of \(s\) and \(n\) on the bounding plates, the authors approximate the function \(\psi(s)\) by a function taking one of three values defined by \[ \psi(0)=0,\;\psi(s_ 0)=-a<0\quad\text{and}\quad\psi(s)=h>0\quad\forall s\in]0,s_ 0[ \] and proceed to show that within this approximation the variational problem reduces to that of minimizing a real valued function defined on the unit square in \(\mathbb{R}^ 2\). Finally, the authors characterize the values of \(k\), \(h\) and \(a\) for which the minimizers of \(F\) are singular. In particular, they indicate how to calculate the critical value \(k_ c\) of \(k\) below which a plane defect appears in the configuration with minimum total free energy.