Emergence of Nanoscale Modulation in Liquid Crystals as a Result of Short-Range Order Parameter Condensation
Abstract
The discovery of the twist-bend nematic phase in liquid crystals composed of bent-core and dimeric molecules has revealed an unexpected mechanism for the spontaneous formation of nanoscale periodic structures in soft condensed matter. Unlike conventional liquid-crystalline phases, the twist-bend phase exhibits a nanoscale heliconical modulation despite the absence of molecular chirality. In this note, dedicated to the late R. Meyer, we discuss a Landau phenomenological interpretation of this phenomenon. The central idea is that a short-range orientational order parameter undergoes condensation, giving rise to a heliconical structure characterized by a finite wave vector. We emphasize that the conventional nematic order is already long-ranged, whereas the additional order parameter describes local orientational correlations hidden within the nematic state. The resulting phase transition bears a close analogy to the de Gennes theory of the nematic--smectic-A transition. Fluctuation effects are expected to drive the transition weakly first order. The theory also predicts a new Goldstone mode associated with the spontaneously broken continuous symmetry of the heliconical state
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BibTeX
@misc{kats2026emergence,
title = {{Emergence of Nanoscale Modulation in Liquid Crystals as a Result of Short-Range Order Parameter Condensation}},
author = {E. I. Kats},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.30916},
eprint = {2609.30916},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30916},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Emergence of Nanoscale Modulation in Liquid Crystals as a Result of Short-Range Order Parameter Condensation
AU - E. I. Kats
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.30916
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30916
AB - The discovery of the twist-bend nematic phase in liquid crystals composed of bent-core and dimeric molecules has revealed an unexpected mechanism for the spontaneous formation of nanoscale periodic structures in soft condensed matter. Unlike conventional liquid-crystalline phases, the twist-bend phase exhibits a nanoscale heliconical modulation despite the absence of molecular chirality. In this note, dedicated to the late R. Meyer, we discuss a Landau phenomenological interpretation of this phenomenon. The central idea is that a short-range orientational order parameter undergoes condensation, giving rise to a heliconical structure characterized by a finite wave vector. We emphasize that the conventional nematic order is already long-ranged, whereas the additional order parameter describes local orientational correlations hidden within the nematic state. The resulting phase transition bears a close analogy to the de Gennes theory of the nematic--smectic-A transition. Fluctuation effects are expected to drive the transition weakly first order. The theory also predicts a new Goldstone mode associated with the spontaneously broken continuous symmetry of the heliconical state
ER -