New Challenges in the Kinetic Theory of Complex Fluids

📅 jueves 18 de diciembre — 13:00

📍 Aula A25, Facultad de Ciencias

👤Conferenciante: Umberto Zerbinati (University of Oxford)

📖 Título: New Challenges in the Kinetic Theory of Complex Fluids

📄 Resumen: In this talk, I will present a unified kinetic framework for ordered fluids - continuum systems whose elements possess internal structure. The key idea is to systematically enlarge the phase space by incorporating the appropriate generalized angular momenta associated with Capriz’s order-parameter manifold. This construction leads to a uniquely determined mesoscopic model for any continuum with microstructure.

To make the theory concrete, I will showcase the particular example of liquids composed of calamitic (rodlike) molecules. Using Noether’s theorem, I will show how the symmetries of microscopic interactions determine the conserved quantities that govern mesoscopic dynamics.

Our kinetic equation is derived under the assumption that microscopic interactions are weak with respect to the mechanisms responsible for ordering, and I will discuss how this kinetic viewpoint clarifies the emergence of mesoscopic behavior. Finally, I will outline the conditions under which an H-theorem holds for ordered fluids and identify the class of Vlasov potentials that can give rise to collective phenomena.