Stokes drag of spherical particles in a nematic environment at low Ericksen numbers - art. no. 031711

As a first approach to the motion of particles in anisotropic liquids, we s tudy the Stokes drag of spherical particles in three different nematic envi ronments: a uniform director field, the Saturn-ring configuration, and the dipole configuration. Two independent friction coefficients for the respect ive motion parallel and perpendicular to the overall symmetry axis exist. W e determine these coefficients by solving the Ericksen-Leslie equations for low Ericksen numbers, i.e., when the director field is not influenced by t he flow of the liquid crystal around the particle. We present streamline pa tterns and interpret them. Compared to the uniform director field and the S aturn-ring configuration, the dipolar configuration lacks a mirror plane as a symmetry element whose consequences we illustrate.