Isotropic-Nematic transition of long thin hard spherocylinders confined in a quasi-two-dimensional planar geometry

Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino; Marjolein Dijkstra; Marileen Dogterom

doi:10.1063/1.1588994

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arXiv · cond-mat/0303138

Isotropic-Nematic transition of long thin hard spherocylinders confined in a quasi-two-dimensional planar geometry

Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino·Marjolein Dijkstra·Marileen Dogterom

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Abstract

We present computer simulations of long thin hard spherocylinders in a narrow planar slit. We observe a transition from the isotropic to a nematic phase with quasi-long-range orientational order upon increasing the density. This phase transition is intrinsically two dimensional and of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The effective two-dimensional density at which this transition occurs increases with plate separation. We qualitatively compare some of our results with experiments where microtubules are confined in a thin slit, which gave the original inspiration for this work.

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Marco Cosentino Lagomarsino, Marjolein Dijkstra, Marileen Dogterom. 2003-03-07. Isotropic-Nematic transition of long thin hard spherocylinders confined in a quasi-two-dimensional planar geometry. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1588994

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