Topology and Nematic Ordering I: A Gauge Theory

Details Topology and Nematic Ordering I: A Gauge Theory Topology and Nematic Ordering I: A Gauge Theory

1995-01-22

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9501101v2

Physics

Condensed Matter

24 pages, uuencoded gzipped PostScript. This version is formatted for US letter size paper, so that it works well on American

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevE.52.1778

We consider the weakly first order phase transition between the isotropic and ordered phases of nematics in terms of the behavior of topological line defects. Analytical and Monte Carlo results are presented for a new coarse-grained lattice theory of nematics which incorporates nematic inversion symmetry as a local gauge invariance. The nematic-isotropic transition becomes more weakly first order as disclination core energy is increased, eventually splitting into two continuous transitions involving the unbinding and condensation of defects, respectively. These transitions are shown to be in the Ising and Heisenberg universality classes. A novel isotropic phase with topological order occurs between them.

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