Journal of Research on Many-body Systems

Journal of Research on Many-body Systems

Calculation of orientation distribution functions in hard ellipsoid and Gay- Berne liquid crystals from order parameters

Document Type : Full length research Paper

Authors
Abstract
The most fundamental characteristic of liquid crystals, at least from a microscopic point of view, is the presence of long-range orientational order while the positional order is limited or absent. We introduce distribution functions which can help us in calculating order parameters and other relevant averages. The singlet and pair distributions are discussed. Equations for the relevant thermodynamic observables in terms of these distributions are given. Also, we introduce order parameters by expanding the singlet distribution in a complete basis set. The effect of molecular symmetry on the orientational order parameters is examined. Using the known order parameters, the orientation distribution function of hard ellipsoid and  the Gay- Berne liquid crystals are calculated. The sixth rank order parameters of these liquid crystals are compared.
Keywords

  • Receive Date 20 March 2012
  • Revise Date 20 April 2012
  • Accept Date 21 May 2012