Rp. Sear et G. Jackson, SMECTIC-A AND SMECTIC-A(2) PHASES IN ALIGNED CYLINDERS WITH A CYLINDRICAL ATTRACTIVE SQUARE-WELL AT ONE END, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 52(4), 1995, pp. 3881-3891
Nematic (N), smectic-A (Sm-A), and bilayer smectic-A(2) (Sm-A(2)) phas
es are studied for an aligned fluid of cylinders with a cylindrical at
tractive square well at one end. The smectic phases are treated using
an extension of the theory of Hosino, Nakano, and Kimura [J. Phys. Sec
. Jpn. 48, 1709 (1979)]. The smectic-A(2) phase has a modulation in th
e probability of a molecule pointing up (or down) in addition to the d
ensity modulation of a smectic-A phase. As for the smectic-A density w
ave, this second modulation requires an order parameter. A theory incl
uding the two order parameters is developed and the phase diagram calc
ulated. This phase diagram shows N-Sm-A, N-Sm-A(2), and Sm-A-Sm-A(2) p
hase transitions that are second order, first order, and second order
at high temperature above a tricritical point and first order below, r
espectively. Somewhat surprisingly, there is also a Sm-A-Sm-A transiti
on; this is bracketed by a critical point at high temperature and the
Sm-A-Sm-A(2) transition at low temperature. There is thus a triple poi
nt where the Sm-A-Sm-A and Sm-A-Sm-A(2) transitions meet. The two coex
isting Sm-A phases differ in both the density and the wavelength of th
e smectic density modulation. Also notable is the very weak dependence
on temperature of the N-Sm-A transition, in contrast to earlier work
on cylinders with saturable attractive forces such that only dimers fo
rm [R.P. Sear and G. Jackson, Mol. Phys. 83, 961 (1994)].