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Theory and Simulation of Two-dimensional Nematic and Tetratic Phases by Geng, Jun; Selinger, Jonathan V. is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Theory and Simulation of Two-dimensional Nematic and Tetratic Phases about?

Recent experiments and simulations have shown that two-dimensional systems can form tetratic phases with four-fold rotational symmetry, even if they are composed of particles with only two-fold symmetry. To understand this effect, we propose a model for the statistical mechanics of particles with almost four-fold symmetry, which is weakly broken down to two-fold. We introduce a coefficient $\kappa$ to characterize the symmetry breaking, and find that the tetratic phase can still exist even up to a substantial value of $\kappa$. Through a Landau expansion of the free energy, we calculate the mean-field phase diagram, which is similar to the result of a previous hard-particle excluded-volume model. To verify our mean-field calculation, we develop a Monte Carlo simulation of spins on a triangular lattice. The results of the simulation agree very well with the Landau theory.

Author

Geng, Jun; Selinger, Jonathan V.

Published

2009

Language

EN