Related papers: A free discontinuity model for smectic thin films
The fluid dynamics of the classical dewetting instability in ultrathin films is a non-linear process. However, the physical manifestation of the instability in terms of characteristic length and time scales can be described by a linearized…
We demonstrate spontaneous wrinkling as a transient dynamical pattern in thin freely floating smectic liquid-crystalline films. The peculiarity of such films is that, while flowing liquid-like in the film plane, they cannot quickly expand…
We develop the theory for stick-slip motion in ultra-thin liquid films confined between two moving atomically-flat surfaces. Our model is based on hydrodynamic equation for the flow coupled to the dynamic order parameter field describing…
Existence and regularity of minimizers for a geometric variational problem is shown. The variational integral models an energy contribution of the interface between two immiscible fluids in the presence of surfactants and includes a…
In this Letter we discuss theoretically the instabilities of thermotropic freely standing smectic-A films under shear flow\cite{re:wu}. We show that, in Couette geometry, the centrifugal force pushes the liquid crystal toward the outer…
We study a free boundary problem on the lattice whose scaling limit is a harmonic free boundary problem with a discontinuous Hamiltonian. We find an explicit formula for the Hamiltonian, prove the solutions are unique, and prove that the…
After a brief introduction to several variational problems in the study of shapes of thin thickness structures, we deal with variational problems on 2-dimensional surface in 3-dimensional Euclidian space by using exterior differential…
Strongly anchored free-standing smectic films usually present a stepwise reduction of the number of layers when the temperature is raised above the smectic-isotropic bulk transition temperature. Here, we demonstrate that a field-induced…
The instability, dynamics and morphological transitions of patterns in thin liquid films on periodic striped surfaces (consisting of alternating less and more wettable stripes) are investigated based on 3-D nonlinear simulations that…
In this paper we study the existence and the dynamics of a very special class of motions, which satisfy a strong global minimization property. More precisely, we call a free time minimizer a curve which satisfies the least action principle…
We study the $\Gamma$-convergence of sequences of free-discontinuity functionals depending on vector-valued functions $u$ which can be discontinuous across hypersurfaces whose shape and location are not known a priori. The main novelty of…
A continuum dynamical model is developed to determine the morphological and compositional instabilities on the free surface of heteroepitaxial alloy films in the absence of growth. We use linear stability analysis to study the early…
A phenomenological free energy model is proposed to describe the behavior of smectic liquid crystals, an intermediate phase that exhibits orientational order and layering at the molecular scale. Advantageous properties render the functional…
Time-dependent models of fluid motion in thin layers, subject to signed source terms, represent important sub-problems within climate dynamics. Examples include ice sheets, sea ice, and even shallow oceans and lakes. We address these…
A thermodynamic theory of ferroelectric thin film multilayers is developed. The free energy function is written down using a multilayer model in which c-domain layers of one ferroelectric material alternate with a-domain layers of a second…
We consider the free boundary problem arising from an energy functional which is the sum of a Dirichlet energy and a nonlinear function of either the classical or the fractional perimeter. The main difference with the existing literature is…
We propose a continuum model to describe the molecular alignment in thin nematic shells. By contrast with previous accounts, the two-dimensional free energy, aimed at describing the physics of thin films of nematics deposited on curved…
A static variational model for shape formation in heteroepitaxial crystal growth is considered. The energy functional takes into account surface energy, elastic misfit-energy and nucleation energy of dislocations. A scaling law for the…
A variational model for epitaxially strained films accounting for the presence of dislocations is considered. Existence, regularity and some qualitative properties of solutions are addressed.
Static and dynamic phenomena in overheated free-standing smectic-A films are studied using a generalization of de Gennes' theory for a confined presmectic liquid. A static application is to determine the profile of the film meniscus and the…