Thesis defense: Jonathan Salmerón-Hernández

Thesis Defense: On the Dynamics of Active and Multi-Component Liquid Crystals

Jonathan Salmerón-Hernández – de Pablo’s lab

Liquid Crystals (LCs) are a fascinating state of matter between liquid and solid, naturally found in biological entities such as the cell cytoskeleton and the liver. Among these, active multi-component liquid crystals—often studied experimentally—can convert external energy into collective motion, typically leading to chaotic dynamics. Controlling these systems is challenging due to the intricate relationships between their multiple components.

Given this complexity, computer simulations based on reliable theory are crucial for understanding their behavior. In this talk, I’ll present a thermodynamics framework used to model, as a first step, a two-component system: a liquid crystal and a solvent. I’ll detail our numerical and computational methods for solving the derived equations and showcase results from three key 2D scenarios: 1) the equilibrium state of two water droplets immersed in LC, 2) hydrodynamics with controlled velocity profiles, and 3) turbulent and chaotic flows, all resembling experimental data. Finally, I’ll discuss our efforts to extend the model to 3D and multi-component systems.

Ultimately, we aim to lay the foundation for simulating and guiding even more complex scenarios, such as biomaterials in a liquid crystalline state, which could advance artificial tissue design, and unlock groundbreaking applications in sensing, biotechnology, and other emerging technologies.