Can elemental bismuth be a liquid crystal?
arXiv:1003.5369 · doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2010.07.067
Abstract
A number of anomalies have been reported in molten Bi, including a first-order liquid-liquid transition at 1010K and ambient pressure, which is irreversible at cooling rates of several degrees per minute. An interpretation of these effects as due to long-range orientational order is suggested. Significant evidence for directionality in liquid Bi, albeit only immediately after melting, is available in experiments made circa 1930. Further experimentation is called for.
10 pages, no figures