INFLUENCE OF COMPETING INTERLAYER INTERACTIONS ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE SM C-ALPHA-ASTERISK PHASE

In a discrete phenomenological description of tilted smectic phases, t he order parameter, which describes the magnitude and the direction of the tilt of the molecules, is defined for each smectic layer. The fre e energy expansion in terms of order parameter takes into account inte ractions between nearest and next nearest smectic layers, and allows f or competing interactions. By minimizing the free energy of the system the structure of the frustrated Sm C-alpha phase is obtained.