TOPOLOGY AND NEMATIC ORDERING .2. OBSERVABLE CRITICAL-BEHAVIOR

This paper is the second in a pair treating a lattice model for nemati c media. In addition to the familiar isotropic (I) and nematically ord ered (N) phases, the phase diagram established in the previous paper ( paper I) contains a new, topologically ordered phase (T) occurring at large suppression of topological defects and weak nematic interactions . This paper (paper II) is concerned with the experimental signatures of the proposed phase diagram. Specific heat, light scattering, and ma gnetic susceptibility near both the N-T and I-T transitions are studie d and critical behavior is determined. The singular dependences of the frank constants K-1,K-2,K-3 and the dielectric tensor anisotropy Delt a epsilon on temperature as T --> T-NT(-) are also found.