  Recent experiments have found that applied electric fields can induce motion
of skyrmions in chiral nematic liquid crystals. To understand the magnitude and
direction of the induced motion, we develop a coarse-grained approach to
describe dynamics of skyrmions, similar to our group's previous work on the
dynamics of disclinations. In this approach, we represent a localized
excitation in terms of a few macroscopic degrees of freedom, including the
position of the excitation and the orientation of the background director. We
then derive the Rayleigh dissipation function, and hence the equations of
motion, in terms of these macroscopic variables. We demonstrate this
theoretical approach for 1D motion of a sine-Gordon soliton, and then extend it
to 2D motion of a skyrmion. Our results show that skyrmions move in a direction
perpendicular to the induced tilt of the background director. When the applied
field is removed, skyrmions move in the opposite direction but not with equal
magnitude, and hence the overall motion may be rectified.
