This difference leads to a finite angle between \(\hat{n}\) and \(\hat{p}\), which we find to be equivalent to an effective dilatation of the layers
2010
Key concepts
Scholarcy highlights
- We discuss and review a generalization of the usual hydrodynamic description of smectic A liquid crystals motivated by the experimentally observed shear-induced destabilization and reorientation of smectic A like systems. We include both the smectic layering) and the director \(\hat{n}\) of the underlying nematic order in our macroscopic hydrodynamic description and allow both directions to differ in non equilibrium situations
- In a homeotropically aligned sample the nematic director couples to an applied simple shear, whereas the smectic layering stays unchanged. This difference leads to a finite angle between \(\hat{n}\) and \(\hat{p}\), which we find to be equivalent to an effective dilatation of the layers
- We include the couplings of the velocity field with the order parameters for orientational and positional order and show how the order parameters interact with the undulation instability
- We discuss pathways to higher instabilities leading to the formation of onions via cylindrical structures and/or the break-up of layers via large amplitude undulations
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