Time：15:30-16:30, Friday, May 30 2025
Venue：E4-233
Host：Thierry De Pauw, ITS
Speaker：Changyou Wang, Purdue University
Biography：Changyou Wang eceived PhD from Rice University. Prior to joining Purdue University, he held faculty positions in the University of Chicago (as a Dickson Instructor) and the University of Kentucky. His main research interests are Calculus of Variations and Nonlinear Geometric and Applied Partial Differential Equations. He has published 110 research papers and a monograph. His research has been frequently supported by NSF, along with honors such as Sloan Dissertation Fellowship, AMS Centennial Fellowship, and Simons Fellowship.
Title：Mathematical Analysis of Nematic Liquid Crystal Flows
Abstract: In this talk, I will introduce the celebrated Ericksen-Leslie system modeling hydrodynamic motions of nematic liquid crystal materials.
This model describes the interactions between the underlying fluid flows and the macroscopic orientations of nematic liquid crystal molecules. Mathematically, it is a dissipative system that strongly couples the Navier-Stokes system for the fluid velocity field with the harmonic heat flow for orientation vector field. I will discuss some recent developments on the analysis questions related to the global existence of physically meaningful solutions, as well as some questions on the well-posedness and the existence of possible finite time singularities.
