Soft Matter Theory & Simulations Group

PRE: Liq. Cryst.

• Monte Carlo simulations of biaxial ordering in systems of uniaxially interacting rodlike ellipsoids
  Author(s): Tushar Kanti BoseThe minimal ingredient to generate a biaxial liquid-crystalline order is usually considered to be a strong biaxiality either in the molecular shape or in the molecular interactions. Although there is no fundamental reason to forbid a spontaneous biaxial liquid-crystalline ordering of pure uniaxial o...[Phys. Rev. E 98, 050701(R)] […]
• Effective dielectric tensor of deformed-helix ferroelectric liquid crystals with subwavelength pitch and large tilt angle
  Author(s): Leonardo Silvestri, Hrishikesh Srinivas, and François LadouceurShort pitch deformed helix ferroelectric liquid crystals have numerous applications as active materials in displays, optical telemetry, and biomedical devices. In this paper, we derive convenient analytical formulas to calculate the effective dielectric tensor of these materials beyond […]
• Critical behavior of the optical birefringence at the nematic to twist-bend nematic phase transition
  Author(s): Damian Pociecha, Catriona A. Crawford, Daniel A. Paterson, John M. D. Storey, Corrie T. Imrie, Nataša Vaupotič, and Ewa GoreckaThe critical behavior at the transition from a uniform nematic to a twist-bend modulated nematic phase is revealed and shown to be well explained by the mean field approximation. The study was performed on a group of mater […]
• Phase transitions in nanofilms of polar smectic liquid crystals with multilayer periodicity
  Author(s): N. S. Shuravin, P. V. Dolganov, and V. K. DolganovOptical investigations and calculation of structures were performed on films of liquid crystal with the sequence of phase transitions in the bulk sample $\mathrm{Sm}{C}_{A}^{*}−\mathrm{Sm}{C}_{d3}^{*}−\mathrm{Sm}{C}_{d4}^{*}−\mathrm{Sm}{C}^{*}−\mathrm{Sm}{C}_{α}^{*}−\mathrm{Sm}A−I$. We investigated […]
• State transition at electrohydrodynamic convection of twisted nematic liquid crystals
  Author(s): Chul Gyu Jhun, Gyu Jin Choi, Dae Geon Ryu, Jong-Hoon Huh, and Jin Seog GwagWe study electrohydrodynamic convection (EHC) patterns in twisted nematic liquid crystal (TNCL) cells with an initial homeotropic alignment. In addition, we demonstrate switching characteristics due to the transition between the 90° and $−{90}^{∘}$ twisted states. The patte […]
• Evidence of a first-order smectic-hexatic transition and its proximity to a tricritical point in smectic films
  Author(s): Ivan A. Zaluzhnyy, Ruslan P. Kurta, Nastasia Mukharamova, Young Yong Kim, Ruslan M. Khubbutdinov, Dmitry Dzhigaev, Vladimir V. Lebedev, Elena S. Pikina, Efim I. Kats, Noel A. Clark, Michael Sprung, Boris I. Ostrovskii, and Ivan A. VartanyantsExperimental and theoretical studies of a smectic-$A$–hexatic-$B$ transition in freely suspended films of t […]
• Adsorption of the liquid crystal molecule 5CB on graphene
  Author(s): Sean A. Fischer, Jakub Kołacz, Christopher M. Spillmann, and Daniel GunlyckeWe use density functional theory to explore the stable adsorption geometries of the liquid crystal molecule 5CB on a graphene sheet. First, we calculate the dependence of the polarizability of 5CB on its geometry. Our results break down the contributions of the cyano, biph […]
• Dynamics of phototunable two-dimensional polar wetting sheets of a dendritic liquid crystal
  Author(s): Satoshi Aya, Takaaki Hikima, Osamu Haba, Koichiro Yonetake, and Fumito AraokaAzobenzene-based molecular systems are used as photoreswitchable smart materials with applications in many areas, including designing surface orientational patterning of anisotropic molecules. It is important and challenging to probe the real-time photoresponsive behavior […]
• Probing the sensitivity of orientational ordering as a way towards absolute enantiorecognition: Helical-particle solutes in helical-particle nematic solvents
  Author(s): Jaime Gutiérrez Bojart, Christian D'Urso, Giorgio Celebre, and Giorgio CinacchiTo inquire into whether two enantiomers can be absolutely distinguished on the sole basis of their different degrees of orientational ordering when dissolved in a chiral nematic liquid crystal, several enantiomeric pairs of hard helical particles are dissolved in a […]
• Dynamic interplay of nematic, magnetic, and tetrahedral order in ferromagnetic nematic phases
  Author(s): Tilen Potisk, Harald Pleiner, and Helmut R. BrandWe consider the influence of tetrahedral (octupolar) order on ferromagnetic nematic liquid-crystalline phases. The presence of tetrahedral order leads to broken parity symmetry in an achiral liquid-crystalline system, in addition to broken time-reversal symmetry associated with the existence of a sp […]