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Updated: Jul 19, 2025
Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Prediction of the liquid-crystal phase behavior of hard right triangles from fourth-virial density-functional
Enrique Velasco1, Yuri Martínez-Ratón2
1Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Instituto de Física de la Materia Condensada (IFIMAC) and Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales Nicolás Cabrera, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
We have used an extended scaled-particle theory that incorporates four-body correlations through the fourth-order virial coefficient to analyze the orientational properties of a fluid of hard right isosceles triangles. This fluid has been analyzed by computer simulation studies, with clear indications of strong octatic correlations present in the liquid-crystal phase, although the more symmetric order tetratic phase would seem to be the most plausible candidate. Standard theories based on the second virial coefficient are unable to reproduce this behavior. Our extended theory predicts that octatic correlations, associated to a symmetry under global rotations of the oriented fluid by 45^{∘}, are highly enhanced, but not enough to give rise to a thermodynamically stable phase with strict octatic symmetry. We discuss different scenarios to improve the theoretical understanding of the elusive octatic phase in this intriguing fluid.
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