Abelian-Higgs-Navier-Stokes Hydrodynamics for Nematic Films with Defects
  A new theory of hydrodynamics of uniaxial nematic liquid crystal films in the presence of defects is developed. A gauge field incorporating screening is introduced, resulting in the static elastic free energy having the form of a two-dimensional Abelian-Higgs model. Hydrodynamic equations are derived via the standard methods of de~Groot and Mazur. By working in the vicinity of the Bogomol'nyi equations consequences for defect centre motion are outlined. 
G. Kurz (King's College London, UK), S. Sarkar (King's College London,   UK)