Abstract
We consider free energy functionals to model equilibrium smectic A liquid crystal configurations in the neighborhood of the nematic phase transition. We first look at the functional proposed by de Gennes based on the Ginzburg-Landau model for superconductivity, and consider its covariant formulations. We construct the focal conic solution and study its stability. We also study the role of chirality in the model of smectic A * . In the final part of the paper, we use an argument of symmetry breaking to model smectic phases as periodic solutions of an extend nematic theory.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1113-1128 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | International Journal of Engineering Science |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2000 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | The Eringen Symposium Dedicated to Pierre-Gilles De Gennes - 36th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineeing Science - Pullman, WA, USA Duration: Sep 27 1998 → Sep 30 1998 |