Dynamics of cholesteric liquid crystals in the presence of random magnetic fields
arXiv:1602.03219 · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/112/60002
Abstract
Based on dynamic renormalization group techniques, this letter analyzes the effects of external stochastic perturbations on the dynamical properties of cholesteric liquid crystals, studied in presence of a random magnetic field. Our analysis quantifies the nature of the temperature dependence of the dynamics; the results also highlight a hitherto unexplored regime in cholesteric liquid crystal dynamics. We show that stochastic fluctuations drive the system to a second-ordered Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition point, eventually leading to a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. The results go beyond quasi-first order mean-field theories, and provides the first theoretical understanding of a KPZ phase in distorted nematic liquid crystal dynamics.
Europhysics Letters, vol. 112, 60002 (2015); DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/112/60002