Cubatic phase for tetrapods
Soft Condensed Matter
2009-11-10 v1
Abstract
We investigate the phase behavior of tetrapods, hard non-convex bodies formed by 4 rods connected under tetrahedral angles. We predict that, depending on the relative lengths of the rods these particles can form a uniaxial nematic phase, and more surprisingly they can exhibit a cubatic phase, a special case of the biaxial nematic phase. These predictions may be experimentally testable, as experimental realizations of tetrapods have recently become available.
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0401003,
title = {Cubatic phase for tetrapods},
author = {Ronald Blaak and Bela M. Mulder and Daan Frenkel},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0401003},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
8 pages ReVTeX 4, including 3 EPS figures