Phase Diagram for Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Using a modified form of the model potential proposed by Kobayashi and McMillan to account for spatial ordering in liquid crystals, we calculate via mean-field theory a phase diagram and thermodynamic properties for liquid crystals including the isotropic, nematic, and smectic-$A$ phases. The results, as expected on purely physical grounds, are shown to give rise to excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement with experiment.