Properties of a model liquid crystal: polar Gay-Berne particles

Molecular dynamics simulations for molecules represented by the Gay-Berne e llipsoidal particles with non-central transverse dipole moments are reporte d. The system is compressed at constant temperature and the highest density corresponds to the tightest packing of hard ellipsoids. The thermodynamic and structural as well as dynamic properties of the system are studied. Esp ecially the transition from the isotropic phase to the orientationally orde red one is investigated and our attention is focused on the dynamics in the ordered phase. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.