Abstract
A new theory of nematics applicable to dense systems of rodlike particles is presented. The formulation endeavors to avoid the use of a lattice, steric effects involved in the dense packing of mesogenic molecules being treated in a manner consistent with this advance. The theory has many similarities with the well-known Flory approach and shares the same analytic simplicity.
The results of the theory give improved estimates of the athermal limit, the order parameter at the transition and the latent entropy for nematics.