https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2017-11523-7
Regular Article
On the influence of a network on optically isotropic fluid phases with tetrahedral/octupolar order
1
Theoretische Physik III, Universität Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany
2
Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, POBox 3148, 55021, Mainz, Germany
* e-mail: brand@uni-bayreuth.de
** e-mail: pleiner@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
Received:
20
October
2016
Accepted:
1
March
2017
Published online:
27
March
2017
We investigate the influence of transient or permanent elasticity on liquid phases with octupolar (tetrahedral) order, a question that has never been addressed before. The focus will be on optically isotropic liquid phases with tetrahedral order including the T d phase and the chiral T phase introduced by Fel. It turns out that the presence of both, a network as well as tetrahedral order can lead to the formation of chiral domains of both hands in an optically isotropic fluid due to a completely novel mechanism, thus providing a possible macroscopic explanation for recent experimental observations. We study in detail how elasticity influences the macroscopic dynamics of both, the T d and the T phase. The simultaneous presence of a transient network as well as of octupolar order is shown to lead to completely new cross-coupling phenomena for optically isotropic systems including transient dissipative elastic strains due to temperature gradients.
Key words: Soft Matter: Liquid crystals
© The Author(s), 2017
