(465g) Predicting Lyotropic Liquid Crystals through out-of-Equilibrium Thermodynamics and Numerical Methods

Active Lyotropic Liquid Crystals (LCs), partially ordered states of matter depending on their constituents’ concentration, continuously convert energy into mechanical work. Found in living systems like the liver and bacterial suspensions, controlling these dynamic systems poses challenges due to their unclear effective parameters between the ratio of components. This work addresses this problem through cutting-edge computational and theoretical techniques, ensuring reliable simulations for guiding experiments. I will introduce the out-of-equilibrium GENERIC framework to derive a thermodynamically consistent mathematical model for these systems. By doing this, the momentum and energy balances are coupled with the concentration dependency as well as the liquid crystalline ordering. Next, an upwind lattice Boltzmann hybrid scheme is used to solve the resulting equations. Three simulation results are showcased: 1) A study of a binary mixture in 2D at equilibrium (no flow), resembling chromonic LC data. 2) The introduction of hydrodynamics by incorporating a velocity parabolic profile and tracking the shape transition of an axial LC droplet. 3) The addition of biochemical activity, resulting in turbulent simulations that flow naturally, akin to microtubule or actin realizations. In short, these simulations have demonstrated the ability to predict LC experimental data and contribute significantly to our understanding of their dynamic behavior.