Professor Nigel Mottram

Nigel Mottram is a Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Glasgow. After a degree in Mathematics at Oxford, he started his research career at the University of Bristol in 1992, working with Prof John Hogan in the Department of Engineering Mathematics on liquid crystal modelling. After subsequent postdocs at Bristol and then Oxford (working with Prof Steve Elston in the Department of Engineering) he moved to a lectureship in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Strathclyde in 1999. In 2020 he moved to a Professorship at the University of Glasgow. Since the start of his PhD he has been involved in the research of liquid crystal materials, developing theoretical models, often applying these to industrially-relevant phenomena.

He has supervised approximately 20 PhD projects, worked extensively in collaboration with experimental and industrial researchers, and has been involved with many national and international research networks. He has received grants from most of the main funding bodies in the UK (EPSRC, MRC, Royal Society etc.) as well as significant industry support. He is the current Chair of the British Liquid Crystal Society.

Talk abstract: Theory and modelling of liquid crystal materials

Technologies that use liquid crystalline fluids now pervade our everyday life – they are, almost certainly, used as the functional material in the display on which you are reading these words. Such liquid crystal displays (LCDs) now dominate the visual display market, from the small display on your washing machine to the TV set in your living room. In every type of LCD, theoretical predictions have been at the heart of understanding how to utilise and optimise these fascinating materials for use in a display. As well as their technological uses, certain liquid crystal phases are found in biological systems – in the walls and cytoplasm of living cells and in dense swarms of bacteria. Again, mathematical models of these systems have enabled advances in understanding of the observed phenomena, as well as prediction of as yet unseen effects.

In this series of talks I will summarise the main continuum theories of various liquid crystalline phases and describe their use in modelling a variety of modern liquid crystal display modes. I will also introduce the theory and modelling of more specialised non-display systems, such as active fluids.