Isotropic-Nematic transition of long thin hard spherocylinders confined in a quasi-two-dimensional planar geometry

Abstract

We present computer simulations of long thin hard spherocylinders in a narrow planar slit. We observe a transition from the isotropic to a nematic phase with quasi-long-range orientational order upon increasing the density. This phase transition is intrinsically two dimensional and of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The effective two-dimensional density at which this transition occurs increases with plate separation. We qualitatively compare some of our results with experiments where microtubules are confined in a thin slit, which gave the original inspiration for this work.

arXiv comment8 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Topological Defects in Nematic Droplets of Hard Spherocylinders
• Wetting and capillary nematization of binary hard-platelet and hard-rod fluids

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