Fluctuations of orientational order in a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal with biaxial molecules and its response to an external field

Abstract

Homogeneous thermal fluctuations of the orientational order parameters S and G of biaxial molecules in a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal are investigated in the framework of the molecular-statistical theory. It is demonstrated that the molecular biaxiality significantly affects the order parameters S and G, their temperature dependences in the nematic phase, the amplitude and the temperature dependence of the order parameter fluctuations in the nematic and isotropic phases, and the character of the transition from the nematic phase to the isotropic liquid phase. It is established that the fluctuations of the parameters S and G in the nematic phase are related to the temperature dependences of S and G and the susceptibilities χS and χG of the nematic liquid crystal to external fields, which leads to a change in the parameters S and G at a fixed director orientation. Explanations are offered for the known experimental data on the orientational ordering of biaxial molecules under the action of external fields in the isotropic phase of nematic liquid crystals.