报告题目：Unveiling the Multistability of Liquid Crystals: A New Horizon in the Solution Landscape

报 告 人：张磊 教授 北京大学

报告时间：2026年04月10日 15：00—16：00

报告地点：正新楼209室

校内联系人：吕俊良 [email protected]

报告摘要：Liquid crystals exhibit an exceptionally rich array of topological defect structures and multistable characteristics under geometric confinement or varying thermodynamic conditions. Understanding and precisely manipulating these stable states, alongside their transition pathways, is of fundamental importance for both theoretical physics and designing novel optical metamaterials. However, the highly nonlinear free energy functionals governing liquid crystals (such as the Landau-de Gennes model) pose significant computational challenges in identifying all stable configurations. This talk will systematically explore the application and recent breakthroughs of the "solution landscape" framework in unveiling the complex multistability of liquid crystals. Using high-index saddle dynamics method, we not only captures all local minima (stable states) but also locates the saddle points and delineates their intricate connectivity network. Ultimately, the solution landscape provides a rigorous mathematical description of exotic NLC defects, offering powerful predictive guidance for designing intelligent, multistable soft materials.

报告人简介：张磊，北京大学数学科学娱乐城/北京国际数学研究中心博雅特聘教授，兼任人工智能研究院副院长，定量生物学中心、国际机器学习中心副主任。2001年本科毕业于北京大学，2004年在中科院数学与系统科学研究院获硕士学位，2008年在美国宾州州立大学获博士学位。研究领域为计算和应用数学、交叉科学，包括稀有事件与解景观的算法与应用，定量生物学，计算物理与材料科学等。研究成果在PRL、PNAS、Acta Numerica、Cell Systems, Nature Communications, Science Advances、SIAM系列期刊发表。(曾)主持国家基金委创新研究群体、国家杰出青年科学基金、科技部重点研发专项等项目。2027年国际工业与应用数学大会（ICIAM）大会邀请报告人，曾获教育部自然科学一等奖、王选杰出青年学者奖、英国皇家学会牛顿高级学者。目前担任中国工业与应用数学学会(CSIAM)副理事长，CSIAM Trans. Appl. Math总编辑，SIAM J. Appl. Math, Science China Mathematics等国内外期刊的编委。