08 Fakultät Mathematik und Physik
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://elib.uni-stuttgart.de/handle/11682/9
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Item Open Access Temperature dependence of the elastic constants for biaxial nematic liquid crystals(1989) Monselesan, Didier; Trebin, Hans-RainerThe elastic constants K ij of the Frank-Oseen energy density for uniaxial nematic liquid crystals depend on the Maier-Saupe order parameter S and hence on temperature. Longa et al. recently used an extended Landau-Ginzburg-de Gennes theory to expand the functions K ij(S) up to fourth order in S. Here, a similar procedure is applied for the elastic energy density of biaxial nematic liquid crystals. The three chiral and 15 achiral constants are expressed as fourth-order polynomials in the order parameter S and the degree of biaxiality T. Via the temperature dependence of the quantities S and T also the temperature dependence of the elastic constants is fixed.Item Open Access An extension of the Landau-Ginzburg-de Gennes theory for liquid crystals(1987) Longa, Lech; Monselesan, Didier; Trebin, Hans-RainerUsing angular momentum representation a method is proposed that allows the systematic construction of a generalized Landau-de Gennes elastic free energy of liquid crystals, in powers of a symmetric and traceless tensor order parameter, polarization field, of external fields and all respective derivatives. By this method all linearly independent elastic invariants and surface terms are constructed for nematics and cholesterics up to fourth order terms. In particular it is shown that up to fourth order in the tensor order parameter there are nineteen bulk elastic constants and four surface terms in the free energy of a general, biaxial nematic. In addition, the stability of this expansion is studied in detail. Some special cases of the elastic free energy of liquid crystals, already discussed in the literature, are reexamined and discrepancies with our results are emphasized. Finally, a thermo-dynamically correct way of establishing contact between the generalized de Gennes elastic free energy and other theories, like those of Oseen-Frank or Meyer, is proposed by applying fluctuation theory. Thus, the degeneracy of splay and bend elastic constants is removed even when these are calculated from the standard de Gennes free energy. Restrictions on higher order elastic constants are also obtained by comparing mean field relations and stability conditions with available experimental data.Item Open Access Phase diagrams of cholesteric liquid crystals obtained with a generalized Landau-de Gennes theory(1989) Longa, Lech; Monselesan, Didier; Trebin, Hans-RainerPhase diagrams of chiral nematic liquid crystals are studied within the framework of a generalized Landau-Ginzburg-de Gennes theory. Using the parametrization of Grebel, Hornreich, and Shtrikman for the tensor order parameter Q, all relevant elastic terms are included for the helicoidal phase and the blue phases of chiral nematic liquid crystals up to fourth order in Q and its gradient ∂Q. The influence of the additional elastic terms on the phase diagrams of the chiral nematic phases is then investigated. The theory correctly describes the variation of the pitch with temperature and the induced biaxiality of the cholesteric phase. The results resolve the discrepancies encountered by Hornreich and Shtrikman in the comparison of experiment and theory. New features in the topology of the phase diagrams of blue phases, like re-entrant phase transitions, are predicted.