Abstract
The variation of density with temperature across different phases for two homologues of the N(4-n-alkyloxybenzylidene)-4′-n-alkylanilines (9O.6 and 9O.8) exhibiting the SASCSFSG phase variant is determined. The influence of pretransitional effects in the fluctuation dominated non-linear region in the vicinity of the isotropic-smectic A transition and the nucleation growth analogy of this transition are discussed.