Related papers: The Smectic A to C Phase Transition in Isotropic D…
We study the smectic $A$-$C$ phase transition in biaxial disordered environments, e.g. fully anisotropic aerogel. We find that both the $A$ and $C$ phases belong to the universality class of the "XY Bragg glass", and therefore have…
We present a theory of the elasticity and fluctuations of the Smectic A and C phases in uniaxial, anisotropic disordered environments, e.g., stretched aerogel. We find that, bizarrely, the low-temperature, lower-symmetry Smectic $C$ phase…
We study the smectic AC transition in anisotropic and uniaxial disordered environments, e.g., aerogel with an external field. We find very strange behavior of translational correlations: the low-temperature, lower-symmetry Smectic C phase…
We develop a theory of Smectic A - Smectic C phase transition with anomalously weak smectic layer contraction. We construct a phenomenological description of this transition by generalizing the Chen-Lubensky model. Using a mean-field…
Phase transitions in disordered systems can be smeared if rare spatial regions develop true static order while the bulk system is in the disordered phase. Here, we study the effects of spatial disorder correlations on such smeared phase…
We point out that the smectic-nematic phase transition may considered as a transition of a stack of membranes in $2+\epsilon$ dimensions, in which the layers become so wrinkled that they interpenetrate each other are no longer…
Smectic-C elastomers can be prepared by crosslinking, e.g., liquid crystal polymers, in the smectic-A phase followed by a cooling through the smectic-A to smectic-C phase transition. This transition from $D_{\infty h}$ to $C_{2h}$ symmetry…
We resolve the old riddle related to the critical behavior of the heat capacity near the smectic A -- hexatic second order phase transition. Experiment suggests a "large" positive specific heat critical exponent inconsistent with the…
By employing Molecular Dynamics computer simulations, the phase behavior of systems of rodlike particles with varying degree of internal flexibility has been traced from the perfectly rigid rod limit till very flexible particles, and from…
We study the influence of disorder on the topological transition from a two-dimensional Dirac semi-metal to an insulating state. This transition is described as a continuous merging of two Dirac points leading to a semi-Dirac spectrum at…
The row model is used to study the commensurate-incommensurate (C-IC) an isotropic (FFTXY) transitions of the frustrated 2D XY model on the triangular lattice. New relevant variables clarify the physics of these transitions: phase and…
We show that Landau theory for the isotropic, nematic, smectic A, and smectic C phases generically, but not ubiquitously, implies de Vries behavior. I.e., a continuous AC transition can occur with little layer contraction; the birefringence…
Extensions of a previously presented Landau-de Gennes type liquid crystalline phase transition model for the direct isotropic/smectic-A (lamellar) a phase transition to the direct isotropic/smectic-C (tilted lamellar) transition are…
We investigate the influence of spatial disorder correlations on smeared phase transitions, taking the quantum phase transition in itinerant magnets as an example. We find that even short-range correlations can have a dramatic effect and…
This analysis of the electroclinic effect in ferroelectric liquid crystals with a first order Smectic-$A^*$--Smectic-$C^*$ (Sm-$A^*$--Sm-$C^*$) transition, shows they can be either Type I or Type II. In temperature--field parameter space…
Recent studies have shown that one-dimensional driven systems can exhibit phase separation even if the dynamics is governed by local rules. The ABC model, which comprises three particle species that diffuse asymmetrically around a ring,…
The smectic C (smC) phase represents a unique class of liquid crystal phases characterised by the layered arrangement of molecules with tilted orientations with respect to layer normals. Building upon the real-valued tensorial smectic A…
The short-range order which remains when the isotropic to smectic-A transition is perturbed by a gel of silica nanoparticles (aerosils) has been studied using high-resolution synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The gels have been created…
We study smectic liquid crystals in random environments, e.g., aerogel. A low temperature analysis reveals that even arbitrarily weak quenched disorder (i.e., arbitrarily low aerogel density) destroys translational (smectic) order. A…
The row model for frustrated XY spins on a triangular lattice in 2D is used to study incommensurate{IC}) spiral and commensurate{C} antiferromagnetic (AF) phases, in the regime where a C-IC transition occurs. Using fluctuating boundary…