Abstract
The effect of the K 13 and K 1 elastic constants on the equilibrium orientation of nematic liquid crystals is considered. Our analysis shows that these terms can be ignored if the surface energy is modified in a particular way. In this manner the difficulties in the elastic theory of nematic liquid crystals connected to the proper minimization of the free energy can be solved. Several suggestions have been made in the past to overcome this lacuna in the elastic theory of nematics. In our paper we suggest a different approach leading to a new surface free energy.The surface variation of the nematic average orientation induced by K 13 and K 1 is also estimated.
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