Flow patterns of the nematic director in a rotating cylindrical sample

The nematic liquid crystal dynamics in a rotating cylindrical container, subjected to a constant magnetic field, has been considered in the past assuming a spatially homogeneous response of the director. In this communication, the formation and dynamics of flow-induced patterns of the director orientation field are investigated by numerical techniques, within different degrees of approximation. Nematodynamics equations are simplified by constraining the director to lie in a planar section of the cylinder, and the time and space dependence of the velocity field in the plane is taken into account. Patterns of the director orientation are calculated and discussed for different velocity profiles.