Living State Physics - Week 2

The aim of this week is to get the first introduction to more complex molecules forming liquid crystals. This forms a field in its own right but the physics of liquid crystals has many aspects of close relationship to the basic building blocks of living systems.

"Liquid Crystals stand between the isotropic liquid phase and the strongly organized Solid State.

Life stands between complete disorder, which is death and complete rigidity, which is death again."

(D.G. Dervichian, Mol.Cryst.Liq.Cryst., 40, 733 (1977))

Navigator Tomas Carlsson ( MC2/7723585)

This weeks home assignement you get by contacting Tomas directly!

Monday 30/10: 10-11.45 (FL71) Lecture 1

• Liquid crystals - a contradiction ?
• Thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals
• Liquid crystalline phases
• Elastic and viscous properties of liquid crystals
• Defects and topology
• Applications - the twisted nematic display
• Biological implications

Monday 30/10: 13.15-15.00 (FL73) Lecture 2

• Elastic theory of nematic liquid crystals - The Frederikz transition
• A quantitative calculation of the Frederikz threshold
• If time permits a quantitative calculation will be given for smectic liquid crystals
• Presentation of home assignement of the week

Background material

• Fragile Objects : Soft Matter, Hard Science, and the Thrill of Discovery by Pierre Gilles de Gennes and Jacques Badoz (ch. 5)

  (September 1996) Copernicus Books (When you want to read more about the systems which are soft.

  Gives on a very elementary level explanations to the structure and behaviour of liquid crystals, rubber, polymers....)

• Introduction to Liquid Crystals : Chemistry and Physics (Liquid Crystals Book Series) by Peter Collings, Mike Hird, Michael Hird

  (June 1997) Taylor & Francis. (This is a standard reference to one of the most used text books for Liquid Crystals when you want to look up something particular)

• Organic molecular crystals (Interaction, localization, and Transport Phenomena), E.A. Silinsch and V Capek, AIP Press, New York (1994) (This is a standard

  reference describing systems which are close to biological, having similar building blocks, but forming perfect crystals like we are used to from solid state physics).

• Liquid Crystals, S. Chabdrasekhar (1992) Cambridge Univ. Press (Good general reference to the field)
• A review of the structure and physical properties of liquid crystals, G.H. Brown, J.W. Doane and V.D. Neff, CRC Butterworths London

  (wonderful pictures of lyotropic liquid crystals).