Generalized Liquid Crystals: Giant Fluctuations and the Vestigial Chiral Order of I , O , and T Matter

Liu, Ke; Nissinen, Jaakko; Slager, Robert-Jan; Wu, Kai; Zaanen, Jan

doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.6.041025

Title: Generalized Liquid Crystals: Giant Fluctuations and the Vestigial Chiral Order of $I$ , $O$ , and $T$ Matter

Journal Article · Mon Oct 31 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physical Review. X

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.041025· OSTI ID:1330482

Liu, Ke; Nissinen, Jaakko; Slager, Robert-Jan; Wu, Kai; Zaanen, Jan

Here, the physics of nematic liquid crystals has been the subject of intensive research since the late 19th century. However, the focus of this pursuit has been centered around uniaxial and biaxial nematics associated with constituents bearing a D_∞h or D_2h symmetry, respectively. In view of general symmetries, however, these are singularly special since nematic order can in principle involve any point-group symmetry. Given the progress in tailoring nanoparticles with particular shapes and interactions, this vast family of “generalized nematics” might become accessible in the laboratory. Little is known because the order parameter theories associated with the highly symmetric point groups are remarkably complicated, involving tensor order parameters of high rank. Here, we show that the generic features of the statistical physics of such systems can be studied in a highly flexible and efficient fashion using a mathematical tool borrowed from high-energy physics: discrete non-Abelian gauge theory. Explicitly, we construct a family of lattice gauge models encapsulating nematic ordering of general three-dimensional point-group symmetries. We find that the most symmetrical generalized nematics are subjected to thermal fluctuations of unprecedented severity. As a result, novel forms of fluctuation phenomena become possible. In particular, we demonstrate that a vestigial phase carrying no more than chiral order becomes ubiquitous departing from high point-group symmetry chiral building blocks, such as I, O, and T symmetric matter.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1330482

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1348937

Journal Information:: Physical Review. X, Journal Name: Physical Review. X Vol. 6 Journal Issue: 4; ISSN 2160-3308

Publisher:: American Physical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 19 works

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