Some thermal effects in cholesteric liquid crystals

Abstract

On the basis of conservation laws proposed by Ericksen (1961), constitutive equations are formulated for cholesteric liquid crystals. To motivate the choice, an entropy inequality of the type discussed by Müller (1967) is employed. Apart from minor differences, the hydrostatic theory of Ericksen (1962) is obtained, and proposals are made for the non-equilibrium terms. With this theory, the spinning phenomenon noted by Lehmann (1900) is investigated, and it is shown that solutions similar to his observations arise in a natual way.