FIRST-ORDER NEMATIC-SMECTIC PHASE-TRANSITION FOR HARD SPHEROCYLINDERSIN THE LIMIT OF INFINITE ASPECT RATIO

We report Monte Carlo simulations of the nematic-smectic phase transit ion for a system of hard spherocylinders with infinite length-to-diame ter ratio. A finite-size scaling analysis suggests that this system un dergoes a first-order phase transition. When combined with other simul ations of the phase behavior of spherocylinders, these results suggest that the nematic-smectic phase transition is first-order for all aspe ct ratios. This appears to rule out the possibility of a tricritical p oint predicted by several density-functional theories.