Energetic and Entropic Contributions to the Landau-de Gennes Potential for Gay-Berne Models of Liquid Crystals
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Date
2013-06-27Type
- Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
The Landau–de Gennes theory provides a successful macroscopic description of nematics. Cornerstone of this theory is a phenomenological expression for the effective free energy as a function of the orientational order parameter. Here, we show how such a macroscopic Landau–de Gennes free energy can systematically be constructed for a microscopic model of liquid crystals formed by interacting mesogens. For the specific example of the Gay–Berne model, we obtain an enhanced free energy that reduces to the familiar Landau–de Gennes expression in the limit of weak ordering. By carefully separating energetic and entropic contributions to the free energy, our approach reconciles the two traditional views on the isotropic–nematic transition of Maier–Saupe and Onsager, attributing the driving mechanism to attractive interactions and entropic effects, respectively. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000070735Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
PolymersVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
MDPISubject
Liquid crystals; Landau-de Gennes potential; Coarse grainingOrganisational unit
03359 - Oettinger, Christian (emeritus) / Oettinger, Christian (emeritus)
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ETH Bibliography
yes
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