Global existence of solutions of the liquid crystal flow for the Oseen-Frank model in R2

In the first part of this paper, we establish the global existence of solutions of the liquid crystal (gradient) flow for the well-known Oseen-Frank model. The liquid crystal flow is a prototype of equations from the Ericksen-Leslie system in the hydrodynamic theory and generalizes the heat flow for harmonic maps into the 2-sphere. The Ericksen-Leslie system is a system of the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the liquid crystal flow. In the second part of this paper, we also prove the global existence of solutions of the Ericksen-Leslie system for a general Oseen-Frank model in R-2. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.