Ulteriori informazioni
The Nato Advanced Study Institute "Phase Transitions in Liquid Crystals" was held May 2-12, 1991, in Erice, Sicily. This was the 16th conference organized by the International School of Quantum Electronics, under the auspices of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Scientific Culture. The subject of "Liquid Crystals" has made amazing progress since the last ISQE Course on this subject in 1985. The present Proceedings give a tutorial introduction to today's most important areas, as well as a review of current results by leading researchers. We have brought together some of the world's acknowledged experts in the field to summarize both the present state of their research and its background. Most of the lecturers attended all the lectures and devoted their spare hours to stimulating discussions. We would like to thank them all for their admirable contributions. The Institute also took advantage of a very active audience; most of the students were active researchers in the field and contributed with discussions and seminars. Some of these student seminars are also included in these Proceedings. We did not modify the original manuscripts in editing this book, but we did group them according to the following topics: 1) "Theoretical Foundations"; 2) "Thermotropic Liquid Crystals"; 3) "Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals"; 4) "Polymeric Liquid Crystals"; and 5) "Lyotropic Liquid Crystals".
Sommario
Theoretical Foundations.- 1. Introduction to Thermotropic Liquid Crystal Phases.- 2. Microscopic Aspects of the Nematic Phases.- 3. Microscopic Aspects of the Smectic Phases.- 4. Phase Transitions in Liquid Crystals: Introduction to Phase Transition Theories.- 5. Computer Simulations of Phase Transitions in Liquid Crystals.- 6. Renormalization Group Studies of Statics and Dynamics of Liquid Crystal Phase Transitions.- 7. Microscopic Liquid Crystal Theory of Nematic Reentrance, Smectic C Ordering, and In-Plane Domain Formation.- 8. Effects of Anisotropy in the Ordering Mechanisms of Two Dimensional Rotors.- Thermotropic Liquid Crystals.- 9. Light Scattering Studies of Thermotropic Liquid Crystals.- 10. Calorimetric Studies of Liquid Crystal Phase Transitions: Steady State Adiabatic Techniques.- 11. Calorimetric Studies of Liquid Crystal Phase Transitions: AC Techniques.- 12. Photothermal Calorimetry: Simultaneous Measurements of Specific Heat and Thermal Conductivity.- 13. Three Dimensional Phase-Sensitive AC Voltametry: A New Experimental Approach for the Study of Phase Transitions.- 14. Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) Flow in a Smectic A Liquid Crystal.- 15. Introduction to Liquid Crystals and their Molecular Order.- 16. X-Ray Studies of Thermotropic Liquid Crystals.- 17. Critical Fluctuations in Free-Standing Smectic Films: An X-Ray Reflectivity Study.- 18. Dielectric and High Pressure Studies of Liquid Crystals.- 19. Molecular Dynamics in Nematic Phases: Raman and Infrared Spectroscopy.- 20. Molecular Dynamics in Nematic Phases: QENS and NMR Spectroscopy.- Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals.- 21. The Layer and Director Structures of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals.- 22. Models for Phase Transition in Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals: Theory and Experimental Results.- 23. The Phase Transition from the SmC* to the SmC Phase Induced by an External Magnetic Field.- Polymeric Liquid Crystals.- 24. Phase Transitions and Phase Diagrams in Liquid Crystalline Polymers.- 25. Molecularly Non-Homogeneous Nematic Polymers.- Lyotropic Liquid Crystals.- 26. Introduction and General Theory of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals.- 27. Phases and Phase Transitions in Nematic Lyotropics.- 28. X-Ray Studies of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals.- 29. Phase Transition in Some Biomolecules.- 30. Modifications of the Phase Transitions of Model Membranes by Exogen Molecules.
Riassunto
Proceedings of a NATO ASI/16th Course of the International School of Quantum Electronics held in Erice, Sicily, Italy, May 2-12, 1991
