Dynamics of smectic-C liquid crystals in a stochastic magnetic field

ABSTRACT

The dynamical evolution of smectic-C liquid crystals in the presence of a magnetic field is studied. The theoretical analysis is based on dynamic renormalisation group techniques. The starting point of the analysis is the nonlinear elastic model of smectic-C liquid crystals followed by Langevin formulation. The dynamical model predicts the onset of Kosterlitz-Thouless transition at low frequency limit. The nonlinearity drives the system to a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) fixed point. The dynamic renormalisation group calculation predicts that smectic-C liquid crystals belong to the KPZ universality class.

KEYWORDS:

• Liquid crystals
• phase transition
• renormalisation group theory
• Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.