Optical characterization of a nanoscale incommensurate pitch in a new liquid-crystal phase

As a remarkable orientationally ordered soft-condensed matter system, the smectic-C*(alpha) phase exhibits an incommensurate nanoscale helical pitch of more than four smectic layers. Recent theoretical advances predict the existence of a new phase showing a helical pitch of less than four smectic layers (<16 nm). By applying a novel optical technique to the study of freestanding films with increments in thickness of one smectic layer, we have measured the size of this pitch using 633 nm HeNe laser light. Our results confirm the existence of the newly predicted phase in one unique compound.     

A phenomenological theory of the isotropic to chiral smectic-C phase transition

In this paper we discuss the direct isotropic to chiral smectic-C phase transition on the basis of a phenomenological theory. The model free energy is written in terms of the coupled order parameters including the spontaneous polarization. We present a detailed analysis of the different phases that can occur and analyze the question under which conditions a direct isotropic to chiral smectic-C phase transition is possible when compared to other phase transitions. On the basis of this model the isotropic-smectic-C^* transition is always of first order. The theoretical predictions are compared with the available experimental results.-1     

Magnetic properties of a multi-domain model for smectic-C liquid crystals

The magnetic properties of a multi-domain smectic-C phase liquid crystal are calculated as a function of tilt angle and magnetic field orientation. Numerical results are presented for the overall diamagnetic susceptibility and magnetic torque density. It is predicted that a first-order reorientation phase transition can occur for the case of a free smectic-C whose tilt angle exceeds 35° at some temperature. These calculations can be used for critically evaluating the multi-domain model and for studies of the temperature dependence of the smectic-C tilt angle.     

Phase transitions and soft elasticity of smectic elastomers

Smectic-C elastomers can be prepared by cross-linking, e.g., liquid crystal polymers, in the smectic-A phase followed by a cooling through the smectic-A to smectic-C phase transition. This transition from D(infinityh) to C(2h) symmetry spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry in the smectic plane as does the transition from a smectic-A to a biaxial smectic phase with D(2h) symmetry. We study these transitions and the emergent elasticity of the smectic-C and biaxial phases in three related models and show that these phases exhibit soft elasticity analogous to that of nematic elastomers.     

Undulation instabilities in the meniscus of smectic membranes

Using optical microscopy, phase shifting interferometry, and atomic force microscopy, we characterize the undulated structures which appear in the meniscus of freestanding ferroelectric smectic-C* films. We demonstrate that these periodic structures correspond to undulations of the smectic-air interface. The resulting striped pattern disappears in the untilted smectic-A phase. The modulation amplitude and wavelength of the instability both depend on meniscus thickness. We study the temperature evolution and propose a model that qualitatively accounts for the observations.     

Maximal height scaling of kinetically growing surfaces

The scaling properties of the maximal height of a growing self-affine surface with a lateral extent L are considered. In the late-time regime its value measured relative to the evolving average height scales like the roughness: h*(L) approximately L alpha. For large values its distribution obeys logP(h*(L)) approximately (-)A(h*(L)/L(alpha))(a). In the early-time regime where the roughness grows as t(beta), we find h*(L) approximately t(beta)[lnL-(beta/alpha)lnt+C](1/b), where either b = a or b is the corresponding exponent of the velocity distribution. These properties are derived from scaling and extreme-value arguments. They are corroborated by numerical simulations and supported by exact results for surfaces in 1D with the asymptotic behavior of a Brownian path.     

Resonant x-ray diffraction study of an unusually large phase coexistence in smectic liquid-crystal films

The recent discovery of the new smectic-C(d6)(*) (SmC(d6)(*)) phase [S. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 027801 (2010)] also revealed the existence of a noisy region in the temperature window between the SmC(d6)(*) phase and the smectic-C(d4)(*) (SmC(d4)(*)) phase. Characterized by multiple resonant peaks spanning a wide region in Q(Z), the corresponding structure of this temperature window has been a mystery. In this Letter, through a careful resonant x-ray diffraction study and simulations of the diffraction spectra, we show that this region is in fact an unusually large coexistence region of the SmC(d6)(*) phase and the SmC(d4)(*) phase. The structure of the noisy region is found to be a heterogeneous mixture of local SmC(d6)(*) and SmC(d4)(*) orders on the sub-μm scale.     

Non-linear dielectric effect in the isotropic phase of ferroelectric liquid crystals

We use a phenomenological model to find theoretically the non-linear dielectric effect (NDE) in the isotropic phase above the isotropic to chiral smectic-C (I-SmC^*) phase transition. We find an analytical expression for the NDE in the isotropic phase above the I-SmC^* phase transition. The temperature dependence of the NDE is presented in the isotropic phase of the I-SmC^* phase transition.     

Five-quark components in N~*(1535)

Here we employ the extended chiral constituent quark model to investigate the five-quark com-ponents in the N~*(1535) resonance. The axial charge of N~*(1535) and the electromagnetic transition γ~*N→N~*(1535) are also analyzed. The results show that there may be sizable strangeness component in N~*(1535).     

Novel twist grain boundary smectic-C phases

Several new kinds of smectic-C twist grain boundary phases (TGBC) have been observed during the last few years. These pure compounds or mixtures exhibit unusual textures with polygonal lattices (square or hexagonal grids) in the plane normal to the TGB helix. The structure of these new phases seems to be complex and different from reported and predicted TGBC phases. In this article, we review the main results obtained on these different new phases, and we propose new TGBC structures based on the well-known splayed polarization --twisted director structures adopted by chiral smectic-C's in planar aligned (bookshelf) cells. The observed square or hexagonal lattices are made of superimposed pairs of unwinding lines due to the suppression of the helix within smectic-C blocks by the grain boundaries (unwinding walls). A lattice-free TGBC occurs if the helix within smectic-C blocks is suppressed completely. Received 15 March 2001     

Elasticity of alpha-helical coiled coils

Predicting large scale conformations of protein structures is computationally demanding. Here we compute the conformation and elasticity of double-stranded coiled coils using a simple coarse-grained elastic model. By maximizing the contact between hydrophobic residues and minimizing the elastic energy, we show that the minimum energy structure of a coiled coil is a supercoiled double helix of alpha helices. For realistic binding energies, the elastic energy of the alpha helices requires binding every 7th residue, which leads to a pitch and helix angle for the structure that is consistent with experimental measurements. Analysis of the model equations shows how the pitch varies with the helical repeat of the hydrophobic residues and with the ratio of the twisting modulus to the bending modulus and provides an estimate of the persistence length of around 150 nm, in agreement with previous experimental estimates.     

Mass and KLamda coupling of the N*(1535)

Using a resonance isobar model and an effective Lagrangian approach, from recent BES results on J/psi-->ppeta and psi-->pK+Lamda, we deduce the ratio between effective coupling constants of N*(1535) to KLamda and peta to be R=gN*(153)KLamda/gN*(1535)peta=1.3+/-0.3. With the previous known value of gN*(1535)peta, the obtained new value of gN*(1535)KLamda is shown to reproduce recent pp-->pK+Lamdanear-threshold cross section data as well. Taking into account this large N*KLamda coupling in the coupled channel Breit-Wigner formula for the N*(1535), its Breit-Wigner mass is found to be around 1400 MeV, much smaller than the previous value of about 1535 MeV obtained without including its coupling to KLamda. The implication on the nature of N*(1535) is discussed.     

Dynamic mechanism of the ferroelectric to antiferroelectric phase transition in chiral smectic liquid crystals

The temperature-induced phase transition between the chiral smectic phases, antiferroelectric (smectic-C(A)*) and ferroelectric (smectic-C*), is found to occur through solitary wave propagation. We measure the free energy, which shows a double well shape in the entire SmC(A)* temperature range and the global minimum is found to shift from the antiferroelectric order to the ferroelectric order at the transition temperature. However, any significant supercooling is not observed and the transition cannot be described by the first order Landau-de Gennes theory, where the double well potential exists only in a narrow range of temperatures. This implies that the SmC(A)*-SmC* transition can occur only nonhomogeneously through the solitary wave propagation which overcomes the high energy barrier between the two minima.     

Untersuchung der Protonen-Spin-Gitter-Relaxation in der smektisch-C- und der nematischen Phase langkettiger Homologer von PAA

Investigation of the Proton-Spin-Lattice Relaxation in the Smectic-C and Nematic Phases of Long Chain Homologues of PAA Results of comparing measurements of the temperature-, frequency and angular dependences of the spin-lattice relaxation times in the Zeeman and dipolar spin systems, T₁ and T_1D, for some long chain homologues of PAA are presented. In particular the temperature dependence of these time constants in the nematic phase is compared with that in the smectic-C phase.     

Universal behavior of two-dimensional 3He at low temperatures

On the example of two-dimensional (2D) 3He we demonstrate that the main universal features of its experimental temperature T-density x phase diagram [see Neumann, Nyéki, and Saunders, Science 317, 1356 (2007)10.1126/science.1143607] look like those in the heavy-fermion metals. Our comprehensive theoretical analysis of the experimental situation in 2D 3He allows us to propose a simple expression for the effective mass M*(T,x), describing all the diverse experimental facts in 2D 3He in a unified manner and demonstrating that the universal behavior of M*(T,x) coincides with that observed in heavy-fermion metals.     

Spontaneous breaking of minimal surface condition: labyrinths in free standing smectic films

We present a study of thin free standing films made of intercalated smectic-C liquid crystal in which, upon lowering the temperature, the minimal surface area condition is broken. A periodic modulation of the film thickness is obtained and a labyrinth structure of crests and valleys is formed. Thickness variation is coupled to the spatial variation of the molecular orientation. The transition to the labyrinth structure is explained to be driven by the mass density difference between the surface and the bulk layers.     

Study of K*(892) mass and width splitting caused by model difference

According to the new K*(892)0 and K*(892)- masses reported by the BELLE experiment and the K*(892)0 mass reported by the FOCUS experiment, mass splitting between neutral and charged K*(892) becomes very small. This is significantly different from the current world average values given by the Particle Data Group 2008. We find that there are differences between models used to fit the K*(892) decay invariant mass spectra in different measurements and study the model dependence in the measurement of K*(892) parameters. We refit the K*(892)0 mass spectra of the BELLE and FOCUS experiments with the formula used by BELLE in fitting K*(892)- to get new mass and width. After refitting, the K*(892)0 mass of the BELLE experiment becomes 1.4 MeV/c2 larger than the initial value and that of the FOCUS experiment is 1 MeV/c2 smaller than the initial value. We also fit the spectra of some other experiments to extract the K*(892) parameters using the BELLE K* (892)- parametrization.