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Main Authors: Salmerón-Hernández, Jonathan, Zubieta-Rico, Pablo, de Pablo, Juan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02158
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author Salmerón-Hernández, Jonathan
Zubieta-Rico, Pablo
de Pablo, Juan
author_facet Salmerón-Hernández, Jonathan
Zubieta-Rico, Pablo
de Pablo, Juan
contents We present a thermodynamically consistent theoretical framework for lyotropic liquid crystals (LCs) based on the GENERIC (General Equation for the Non-Equilibrium Reversible-Irreversible Coupling) formalism. This formalism ensures conservation of energy and production of entropy, while coupling concentration, momentum balance, and liquid crystalline order. Starting from a binary nematic-isotropic mixture, we derive a theory for these key variables, which is then extended to multi-component systems. The binary equations are solved numerically using a Julia-based solver that relies on an upwind finite-difference scheme, enabling stable and efficient simulations capable of handling multiple time scales while satisfying fundamental mathematical constraints. The results of simulations are consistent with experimental observations of topological core defects in chromonic LCs, as well as flow-driven droplet shape transitions under Couette and Poiseuille flows. This work provides a platform for simulations of multi-component lyotropic LCs that can be extended to systems with multiple interfaces, active materials, and materials subject to external fields.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_02158
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Out-of-equilibrium modeling of lyotropic liquid crystals: from binary simulations to multi-component theory
Salmerón-Hernández, Jonathan
Zubieta-Rico, Pablo
de Pablo, Juan
Soft Condensed Matter
Mathematical Physics
Computational Physics
Fluid Dynamics
We present a thermodynamically consistent theoretical framework for lyotropic liquid crystals (LCs) based on the GENERIC (General Equation for the Non-Equilibrium Reversible-Irreversible Coupling) formalism. This formalism ensures conservation of energy and production of entropy, while coupling concentration, momentum balance, and liquid crystalline order. Starting from a binary nematic-isotropic mixture, we derive a theory for these key variables, which is then extended to multi-component systems. The binary equations are solved numerically using a Julia-based solver that relies on an upwind finite-difference scheme, enabling stable and efficient simulations capable of handling multiple time scales while satisfying fundamental mathematical constraints. The results of simulations are consistent with experimental observations of topological core defects in chromonic LCs, as well as flow-driven droplet shape transitions under Couette and Poiseuille flows. This work provides a platform for simulations of multi-component lyotropic LCs that can be extended to systems with multiple interfaces, active materials, and materials subject to external fields.
title Out-of-equilibrium modeling of lyotropic liquid crystals: from binary simulations to multi-component theory
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Mathematical Physics
Computational Physics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02158