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Abstract
A mean-field calculation is presented for cyclic polymers with attached rod like mesogenic side groups. The mean-field includes energy contributions for ring-ring, rod-rod and ring-rod interactions. The uniaxial solution for this model yields two ordered phases: a conventional calamitic nematic phase in which the rods tend to align parallel and a discotic nematic phase in which it is the rings that tend to align parallel. These phases are shown to be dependent upon the relative strengths of the three energy contributions, the number of mesogens per ring and temperature. In certain cases polymorphism is observed with an isotropic phase cooling to the nematic discotic phase and then on further cooling to the calamitic nematic phase.