Physics
Semisoft nematic elastomers and nematics in crossed electric and magnetic fields
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Nematic elastomers with a locked-in anisotropy direction exhibit semisoft elastic response characterized by a plateau in the stress-strain curve in which stress does not change with strain. We calculate the global phase diagram for a minimal model, which is equivalent to one describing a nematic in crossed electric and magnetic fields, and show that semisoft behavior is associated with a broken symmetry biaxial phase and that it persists well into the supercritical regime. We also consider generalizations beyond the minimal model and find similar results. © 2007 The American Physical Society.
Publication Title
Physical Review Letters
Publication Date
4-5-2007
Volume
98
Issue
14
ISSN
0031-9007
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.147801
Keywords
elasticity, electromagnetic fields, magnetic anisotropy, mathematical models, phase diagrams
Repository Citation
Ye, Fangfu; Mukhopadhyay, Ranjan; Stenull, Olaf; and Lubensky, T. C., "Semisoft nematic elastomers and nematics in crossed electric and magnetic fields" (2007). Physics. 164.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_physics/164
