title: Hydrodynamics and rheology of active liquid crystals: a numerical investigation.
abstract: We report numerical studies of the hydrodynamics and rheology of an active liquid crystal. We confirm the existence of a transition between a passive and an active phase, with spontaneous flow in steady state. We explore how the velocity profile changes with activity, and we point out the difference in behavior for flow-aligning and tumbling materials. We find that an active material can thicken or thin under a flow, or even exhibit both behaviors as the forcing changes.
authors.affiliation: SUPA, School of Physics, University of Edinburgh, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marenduzzo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orlandini
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yeomans
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods