Refined approximation for minimizers of a Landau-de Gennes energy functional

Abstract

We study minimizers of a Landau-de Gennes energy functional in the asymptotic regime of small dimensionless elastic constant L > 0. The results on the convergence to a minimizer of the limit Oseen-Frank functional in Majumdar and Zarnescu (Arch Ration Mech Anal 196:227–280, 2010) are revisited and improved, which in effect lead to a sharp rate of convergence. The equation for the first-order correction term is derived: it has a “normal component” given by an algebraic relation and a “tangential component” given by a linear system.