Abstract
The field-induced molecular reorientation of liquid crystals is usually described by the Frank-Oseen equation with several simplifying assumptions. Among them the “classical” theory ignores thermal fluctuations in the liquid crystal structure. As a consequence, the static Frank-Oseen equation may give inconsistent results in some details of the reorientation process. This work is aimed to include formally the orientational fluctuations in the field-induced reorientation process in nematics. The simplified approach presented here is a “zero-order” approximation of the problem, nevertheless even in this form it allows for correct physical interpretation of the process for fields up to the threshold.
Acknowledgment
This work was done under the grant from Warsaw University of Technology, No. 503 R 1050 0034 009.