A variational analysis of nematic axisymmetric films: the covariant derivative case

Abstract

Nematic surfaces are thin fluid structures, ideally two-dimensional, endowed with an in-plane nematic order. In 2012, two variational models have been introduced by Giomi [11] and by Napoli and Vergori [29,28]. Both penalize the area of the surface and the gradient of the director: in [11] the covariant derivative of the director is considered, while [28] deals with the surface gradient. In this paper, a complete variational analysis of the model proposed by Giomi is performed for revolution surfaces spanning two coaxial rings.