Uniaxial nematic phase in fluids of biaxial particles

Abstract

We construct a mean field theory for fluids of biaxial particles interacting via London-van der Waals interactions. This model is shown to belong to a class of systems previously studied by Straley. In the special case when the psueodpotential can be constructed from the invariants of the dielectric susceptibility tensor, the model is shown to be equivalent to that of Freiser and others. A discussion is given of the difference between molecular properties, as obtained in N.M.R. experiments, and bulk properties.