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Effect of order-parameter fluctuations on the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma first-order transition in superconductors and liquid crystals

Igor F. Herbut·Anand Yethiraj·John Bechhoefer
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Abstract

We show that order-parameter fluctuations in a good type-I superconductor or a liquid crystal always increase the size of the first-order transition. This behavior is eventually changed when the system crosses over to inverted-XY critical behavior, with the size of the first-order transition vanishing as a power law with a crossover exponent. We find a good agreement between our theory and a recent experiment on the nematic-smectic-A first-order transition in 8CB-10CB mixtures of liquid crystals.

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Igor F. Herbut, Anand Yethiraj, John Bechhoefer. 2000-05-29. Effect of order-parameter fluctuations on the Halperin-Lubensky-Ma first-order transition in superconductors and liquid crystals. https://doi.org/10.1209/epl%2Fi2001-00417-3

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