Steady poiseuille flow in nematics : theory of the uniform instability

Abstract
We study the stability of a Poiseuille flow in a planar nematic, with respect to a uniform distortion of the director. We develop a linearized hydrodynamic theory which allows one to characterize the symmetry of the unstable modes. One expects two types of solutions according to the presence or not of a net transverse flow. An exact solution is given in a simple case which shows that the instability with net transverse flow corresponds to the lowest threshold in agreement with experimental results

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