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arXiv · 1209.3069

The Smectic A to C Phase Transition in Isotropic Disordered Environments

Leiming Chen·John Toner
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Abstract

We study theoretically the smectic A to C phase transition in isotropic disordered environments. Surprisingly, we find that, as in the clean smectic A to C phase transition, smectic layer fluctuations do not affect the nature of the transition, in spite of the fact that they are much stronger in the presence of the disorder. As a result, we find that the universality class of the transition is that of the "Random field XY model" (RFXY).

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Leiming Chen, John Toner. 2012-09-14. The Smectic A to C Phase Transition in Isotropic Disordered Environments. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.87.042501

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