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Phase Transitions

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Abstract

Liquid crystals manifest a number of transitions between different phases upon variation of temperature, pressure or a content of various compounds in a mixture. All the transitions are divided into two groups, namely, first and second order transitions both accompanied by interesting pre-transitional phenomena and usually described by the Landau (phenomenological) theory or molecular-statistical approach. In this chapter we are going to consider the most important phase transitions between isotropic, nematic, smectic A and C phases. The phase transitions in ferroelectric liquid crystals are discussed in Chapter 13.

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Correspondence to Lev M. Blinov .

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Blinov, L.M. (2011). Phase Transitions. In: Structure and Properties of Liquid Crystals., vol 123. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8829-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8829-1_6

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