Related papers: Liquid crystals and harmonic maps in polyhedral do…

Let $A \subset \mathbb{R} ^2 $ be a smooth doubly connected domain. We consider the Dirichlet energy $E(u)=\int_{A} |\nabla u|^2$, where $u:A \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$, and look for critical points of this energy with prescribed modulus…

Within the Landau-de Gennes theory of liquid crystals, we study theoretically the equilibrium configurations with uniaxial symmetry. We show that the uniaxial symmetry constraint is very restrictive and can in general not be satisfied,…

We develop a theory of existence of minimizers of energy functionals in vectorial problems based on a nonlocal gradient under Dirichlet boundary conditions. The model shares many features with the peridynamics model and is also applicable…

We study the equilibrium shape of liquid drops minimizing the fractional perimeter under the action of a potential energy. We prove, with a quantitative estimate, that the small volume minimizers are convex and uniformly close to a ball.

Minimal surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^n$ can be locally approximated by graphs of harmonic functions, i.e., functions that are critical points of the Dirichlet energy, but no analogous theorem is known for $H$-minimal surfaces in the…

In this paper we study upper and lower bounds of the index and the nullity for sequences of harmonic maps with uniformly bounded Dirichlet energy from a two-dimensional Riemann surface into a compact target manifold. The main difficulty…

A Self Consistent Field Theory description of equilibrium, but non uniform, configurations adopted by semi flexible liquid crystal molecules is presented. Two cases are considered, isotropic-nematic phase boundaries, and topological defects…

Let $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^3$ be a Lipschitz domain, and consider a harmonic map $v: \Omega \rightarrow \mathbb{S}^2$ with boundary data $v|\partial\Omega = \varphi$ which minimises the Dirichlet energy. For $p\geq 2$, we show that any…

The ability to manipulate polar entities with multiple external fields opens exciting possibilities for emerging functionalities and novel applications in spin systems, photonics, metamaterials, and soft matter. Liquid crystals (LCs),…

The study deals with a minimal energy problem in the presence of an external field over noncompact classes of vector measures of infinite dimension in a locally compact space. The components are positive measures (charges) satisfying…

We investigate minimizers defined on a bounded domain $\Omega$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ for singular constrained energy functionals that include Ball and Majumdar's modification of the Landau-de Gennes Q-tensor model for nematic liquid crystals.…

In this paper, we study the relaxed energy for biharmonic maps from a $m$-dimensional domain into spheres. By an approximation method, we prove the existence of a minimizer of the relaxed energy of the Hessian energy, and that the minimizer…

We investigate the dependence of optimal constants in Poincar\'e- Sobolev inequalities of planar domains on the region where the Dirichlet condition is imposed. More precisely, we look for the best Dirichlet regions, among closed and…

Motivated by explosive releases of energy in fusion, space and astrophysical plasmas, we consider the nonlinear stability of stratified magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibria against two-dimensional interchanges of straight magnetic-flux…

We study the behaviour of global minimizers of a continuum Landau-de Gennes energy functional for nematic liquid crystals, in three-dimensional axially symmetric domains domains diffeomorphic to a ball (a nematic droplet) and in a…

In this paper we classify the low energy $\varepsilon$-harmonic maps from the surfaces of constant curvature with positive genus into the round sphere. We find that all such maps with degree $\pm1$ are all quantitively close to a bubble…

We study a modified Landau-de Gennes model for nematic liquid crystals, where the elastic term is assumed to be of subquadratic growth in the gradient. We analyze the behaviour of global minimizers in two- and three-dimensional domains,…

We analyse a recent generalised free-energy for liquid crystals posited by Virga and falling in the class of quartic functionals in the spatial gradients of the nematic director. We review some known interesting solutions, i. e., uniform…

We study energy minimization of a continuum Landau-de Gennes energy functional for nematic liquid crystals, in three-dimensional axisymmetric domains and in a restricted class of $\mathbb{S}^1$-equivariant (i.e., axially symmetric)…

Motivated by experiments in electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals with homeotropic alignment we study the coupled amplitude equations describing the formation of a stationary roll pattern in the presence of a weakly-damped mode that…