Shear-induced melting of smectic-A liquid crystals

A numerical and analytical analysis of shear-induced melting in smectic-A l iquid crystals is presented. Based on a Landau expansion of the complex sme ctic order parameter, equations governing the phase and amplitude of the lo cal density modulation are found, Numerically solving these equations indic ates that for a range of parameter values a first-order transition, from a shear-stressed to a more relaxed state, is periodically encountered as the total shear is increased. Suitable approximations allow the analytic determ ination of certain characteristics of this first-order transition.