Liquids with Chiral Bond Order

Abstract

I describe new phases of a chiral liquid crystal with nematic and hexatic order. I find a conical phase, similar to that of a cholesteric in an applied magnetic field for Frank elastic constants $K_2>K_3$. I discuss the role of fluctuations in the context of this phase and the possibility of satisfying the inequality for sufficiently long polymers. In addition I discuss the topological constraint relating defects in the bond order field to textures of the nematic and elucidate its physical meaning. Finally I discuss the analogy between smectic liquid crystals and chiral hexatics and propose a defect-riddled ground state, akin to the Renn-Lubensky twist grain boundary phase of chiral smectics.

plain TeX, 19 Pages, four figures, uufiled and included. Minor correction and clarification

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• Geometry of Bend: Singular Lines and Defects in Twist-Bend Nematics
• Boundary Effects in Chiral Polymer Hexatics
• Mechanics of metric frustration in contorted filament bundles: From local symmetry to columnar elasticity