Reduction theory for symmetry breaking with applications to nematic systems

Abstract

We formulate Euler-Poincar\'e and Lagrange-Poincar\'e equations for systems with broken symmetry. We specialize the general theory to present explicit equations of motion for nematic systems, ranging from single nematic molecules to biaxial liquid crystals. The geometric construction applies to order parameter spaces consisting of either unsigned unit vectors (directors) or symmetric matrices (alignment tensors). On the Hamiltonian side, we provide the corresponding Poisson brackets in both Lie-Poisson and Hamilton-Poincar\'e formulations. The explicit form of the helicity invariant for uniaxial nematics is also presented, together with a whole class of invariant quantities (Casimirs) for two dimensional incompressible flows.