Continuous distributions of inhomogeneities in liquid-crystal-like bodies

By casting the theory of liquid-crystal-like materials within the framework of the theory of generalized Cosserat media, it becomes feasible to suppor t the possible existence of continuous distributions of inhomogeneities at the microstructural level. The main feature of the formulation is the manne r in which the constitutive functional is made to become sensitive to the p resence of a special director field, thereby allowing for the application o f general results of the theory of inhomogeneities of media with internal s tructure.