Two new topologically ordered glass phases of smectics confined in anisotropic random media

Abstract

We show that smectic liquid crystals confined in_anisotropic_ porous structures such as e.g.,_strained_ aerogel or aerosil exhibit two new glassy phases. The strain both ensures the stability of these phases and determines their nature. One type of strain induces an ``XY Bragg glass'', while the other creates a novel, triaxially anisotropic ``m=1 Bragg glass''. The latter exhibits anomalous elasticity, characterized by exponents that we calculate to high precision. We predict the phase diagram for the system, and numerous other experimental observables.

4 RevTeX pgs, 2 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett

References in corpus (1)

• Smectic Liquid Crystals in Random Environments

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