Uniqueness of global weak solutions for the general Ericksen–Leslie system with Ginzburg–Landau penalization in {mathbb {T}}^2

Abstract

The Ericksen–Leslie system is a fundamental hydrodynamic model that describes the evolution of incompressible liquid crystal flows of nematic type. In this paper, we prove the uniqueness of global weak solutions to the general Ericksen–Leslie system with a Ginzburg–Landau type approximation in a two dimensional periodic domain. The proof is based on some delicate energy estimates for the difference of two weak solutions within a suitable functional framework that is less regular than the usual one at the natural energy level, combined with the Osgood lemma involving a specific double-logarithmic type modulus of continuity. We overcome the essential mathematical difficulties arising from those highly nonlinear terms in the Leslie stress tensor and in particular, the lack of maximum principle for the director equation due to the stretching effect of the fluid on the director field. Our argument makes full use of the coupling structure as well as the dissipative nature of the system, and relies on some techniques from harmonic analysis and paradifferential calculus in the periodic setting.