Lecturer: Prof. Jonathan Selinger
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics,
Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University
Abstract:
From liquid crystals to biological membranes,
many soft materials exhibit order in the
molecular orientation. This order may be
uniform across the material, or it may have
some systematic modulation. In this talk, we
survey mechanisms for the formation of
modulated structures. Many of these
structures arise from chirality (left-right
asymmetry), which induces a favored twist.
On macroscopic scale, this favored twist leads
to cholesteric liquid crystals (with helical
modulation), blue phases (with cubic lattices
of double twist), and twisted membranes. We
point out that related structures can arise
from polarity (vector asymmetry), which
induces a favored splay or bend. We compare
and contrast polar structures with chiral
structures, and show how each can be
observed in experiments.