The Ericksen-Leslie system in nematic liquid crystals

      Liquid crystals are states of matter intermediate between solid crystals and normal isotropic liquids. Based on a generalization of the static liquid crystal theory,  Ericksen  and Leslie in the 1960s  psolid crystals and normal isotropic liquids. Based on a generalization of the static liquid crystal theory,  Ericksen  and Leslie in the 1960s  proposed some constitutive equations for nematic liquid crystals in  the hydrodynamic theory of liquid crystals.   The Ericksen-Leslie theory  has been verified  in physics  as one of the successful theories for  modelling the nematic liquid crystal flow. In this talk, we will survey some old and new mathematical study about the  Ericksen-Leslie system in nematic liquid crystals.