Abstract
This paper discusses some recent developments in the theory of the interfacial properties of nematic liquid crystals. Our focus will be on the relation between orientational ordering and wetting at a nematic-wall interface. We shall base our presentation on the Landau-de Gennes1,2 theory for non-uniform nematics. Earlier applications of that theory to nematic interfacial structure and wetting, which comprise an important background to the present discussion, have been reviewed recently by Sluckin and Poniewierski2. An alternative approach to the same topic is provided by the molecular mean-field theory described by Telo da Gama at this symposium (see also refs. 3 and 4). Due to its explicit treatment of microscopic interactions and inclusion of coupling between orientational and density order parameters, the latter is a richer and basically more realistic approach. The much simpler structure of Landau-de Gennes theory, which renders it more susceptible to analytic treatment, justifies this account. A more detailed presentation of various technical aspects of this work will be published elsewhere5.
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© 1988 Plenum Press, New York
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Sullivan, D.E., Sen, A.K. (1988). Wetting and Orientational Transitions in Nematic Liquid Crystals. In: Velarde, M.G. (eds) Physicochemical Hydrodynamics. NATO ASI Series, vol 174. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0707-5_55
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0707-5_55
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