Hexatic-Herringbone Coupling at the Hexatic Transition in Smectic Liquid Crystals: 4-$ε$ Renormalization Group Calculations Revisited

Physics – Condensed Matter – Disordered Systems and Neural Networks

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

1 B/W eps figure included. Submitted to Physical Review E. Contact: gingras@gandalf.uwaterloo.ca

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevE.68.041701

Simple symmetry considerations would suggest that the transition from the smectic-A phase to the long-range bond orientationally ordered hexatic smectic-B phase should belong to the XY universality class. However, a number of experimental studies have constantly reported over the past twenty years "novel" critical behavior with non-XY critical exponents for this transition. Bruinsma and Aeppli argued in Physical Review Letters {\bf 48}, 1625 (1982), using a $4-\epsilon$ renormalization-group calculation, that short-range molecular herringbone correlations coupled to the hexatic ordering drive this transition first order via thermal fluctuations, and that the critical behavior observed in real systems is controlled by a `nearby' tricritical point. We have revisited the model of Bruinsma and Aeppli and present here the results of our study. We have found two nontrivial strongly-coupled herringbone-hexatic fixed points apparently missed by those authors. Yet, those two new nontrivial fixed-points are unstable, and we obtain the same final conclusion as the one reached by Bruinsma and Aeppli, namely that of a fluctuation-driven first order transition. We also discuss the effect of local two-fold distortion of the bond order as a possible missing order parameter in the Hamiltonian.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Hexatic-Herringbone Coupling at the Hexatic Transition in Smectic Liquid Crystals: 4-$ε$ Renormalization Group Calculations Revisited does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Hexatic-Herringbone Coupling at the Hexatic Transition in Smectic Liquid Crystals: 4-$ε$ Renormalization Group Calculations Revisited, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Hexatic-Herringbone Coupling at the Hexatic Transition in Smectic Liquid Crystals: 4-$ε$ Renormalization Group Calculations Revisited will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-667385

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.