Modulated phases in a three-dimensional Maier-Saupe model with competing interactions
Abstract
This work is dedicated to the study of the discrete version of the Maier-Saupe model in the presence of competing interactions. The competition between interactions favoring different orientational ordering produces a rich phase diagram including modulated phases. Using a mean-field approach and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the proposed model exhibits isotropic and nematic phases and also a series of modulated phases that meet at a multicritical point, a Lifshitz point. Though the Monte Carlo and mean-field phase diagrams show some quantitative disagreements, the Monte Carlo simulations corroborate the general behavior found within the mean-field approximation.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1704.07936,
title = {Modulated phases in a three-dimensional Maier-Saupe model with competing interactions},
author = {P. F. Bienzobaz and Na Xu and Anders W. Sandvik},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1704.07936},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
10 pages, 8 figures, title modified, minor typos corrected, improved interpretation of results, published version