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Updated: Jul 26, 2026
06:26
Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Phase ordering in nematic liquid crystals
C Denniston1, E Orlandini, J M Yeomans
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
Summary
This study on liquid crystal phase transitions reveals dynamic scaling laws, unaffected by hydrodynamic flow. Orientational disorder was found to inhibit amplitude ordering in two-dimensional systems.
Area of Science:
- Condensed matter physics
- Soft matter physics
Background:
- Liquid crystals exhibit phase transitions between ordered nematic and disordered isotropic phases.
- Understanding the kinetics of these transitions is crucial for materials science and physics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dynamic scaling laws governing the nematic-isotropic transition in two-dimensional liquid crystals.
- To determine the influence of hydrodynamic flow and orientational disorder on the transition kinetics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a lattice Boltzmann scheme to consistently couple the tensor order parameter and hydrodynamic flow.
- Analyzed the time dependence of correlation functions, energy density, and topological defects.
- Examined shallow quenches to probe the effects of orientational disorder.
Main Results:
- Observed that the time dependences of correlation functions, energy density, and topological defects follow dynamic scaling laws.
- Growth exponents were found to be approximately 1/2, consistent with simple dimensional analysis.
- Hydrodynamic flow did not alter these dynamic scaling exponents.
- Shallow quenches demonstrated that orientational disorder can inhibit amplitude ordering.
Conclusions:
- The nematic-isotropic transition in 2D liquid crystals adheres to predicted dynamic scaling laws.
- Hydrodynamic effects do not significantly impact the observed scaling behavior.
- Orientational disorder plays a key role in modulating the ordering process.
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