Read more
"There are two main approaches to the theoretical study of liquid crystals: continuum and molecular. The first, well covered in various good books (e.g. those by Chandrasekhar [1992]; de Gennes and Prost [1993]; Virga [1994]; Kleman and Lavrentovich [2003]; Stewart [2004]; Oswald and Pieranski [2005, 2006]; Barbero and Evangelista [2006]) considers anisotropic systems at macroscopic level and typically deals with optical and elastic properties as well as with many practical electrooptical applications of liquid crystals. At continuum level, liquid crystals are assumed to exist and their properties (e.g. elastic constants and viscosities) to be known, insofar as they are needed to parameterize the relevant equations. Molecules, phase transitions and spectroscopic properties are not normally taken into consideration. In this line of work computer simulations typically refer to a determination of the preferred orientation (director) or of the ordering tensor field that minimize the elastic free energy under a variety of boundary conditions, while dynamics is normally related to the solution of hydrodynamics equations for anisotropic fluids. The other main line of investigation deals"--
List of contents
Preface. 1. Phases and mesophases; 2. Phase transitions; 3. Order parameters; 4. Distributions; 5. Particle-particle interactions; 6. Dynamics; 7. Molecular theories; 8. Monte Carlo; 9. Molecular dynamics; 10. Lattice models; 11. Molecular simulations; 12. Atomistic simulations. Appendices. References. Subject index.
About the author
Claudio Zannoni obtained his PhD in Chemical Physics from Southampton University in 1975 and has been Professor of Physical Chemistry (now Emeritus) at the University of Bologna since 1987. He has extensive experience in the field, having published some 300 papers and delivered over 350 lectures worldwide on computer simulations and molecular theories of liquid crystals. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Bonino Medal of the Italian Chemical Society. In 1998 he founded and now directs the International School of Liquid Crystals.
Summary
Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this comprehensive textbook provides a modern and self-contained treatment of liquid crystals and their computer simulations. It introduces various liquid crystal systems, presenting both the theory and the methodologies required to link experiment and computer simulation in a clear and accessible way.
