Enhancement of nematic order and global phase diagram of a lattice model for coupled nematic systems

Abstract

We use an infinite-range Maier-Saupe model, with two sets of local quadrupolar variables and restricted orientations, to investigate the global phase diagram of a coupled system of two nematic subsystems. The free energy and the equations of state are exactly calculated by standard techniques of statistical mechanics. The nematic-isotropic transition temperature of system A increases with both the interaction energy among mesogens of system B, and the two-subsystem coupling $J$. This enhancement of the nematic phase is manifested in a global phase diagram in terms of the interaction parameters and the temperature $T$. We make some comments on the connections of these results with experimental findings for a system of diluted ferroelectric nanoparticles embedded in a nematic liquid-crystalline environment.

11 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Volume 42 of the Brazilian Journal of Physics

References in corpus (6)

• Orientational Coupling Amplification in Ferroelectric Nematic Colloids
• Theory of Ferroelectric Nanoparticles in Nematic Liquid Crystals
• Maier-Saupe-type theory of ferroelectric nanoparticles in nematic liquid crystals
• Statistical models of mixtures with a biaxial nematic phase
• Phase diagram of a model for a binary mixture of nematic molecules on a Bethe lattice
• The elastic Maier-Saupe-Zwanzig model and some properties of nematic elastomers

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Phase behavior of a lattice-gas model for biaxial nematics
• Tricritical behavior of soft nematic elastomers