Mechanism of diffusion in the smectic- A phase of wormlike rods studied by computer simulation

Molecular dynamics computer simulations have been carried out in the smectic- A phase of stiff wormlike rods. The analysis of the long trajectories generated has allowed for a detailed insight into that diffusion mechanism which is operative in the above-mentioned liquid-crystalline phase, as recently visualized in a system of colloidal virus rods. Fast particles, i.e., those able to move abruptly out from one into an adjacent layer, have been identified. Their properties, such as the velocity autocorrelation function and the orientational distribution function, have been determined and compared to the corresponding quantities valid for a generic rod.