title: Chiral polymer hexatics: a new twist on DNA.
abstract: Theories of the " N+6" hexagonally ordered phase of DNA are generally based on treatments of hexatic order in smectic systems. Thus N+6 phases should be analogous to superconductors and should expel twist of the nematic director, in an analogy of the Meissner effect. However, in N+6 systems there is no smectic order, hence a radically different mathematical description is required. Here I present the appropriate theory and show that, as N+6 phases are not analogous to superconductors, they can exhibit twist in any direction, without forming any topological defects.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QL, United Kingdom. M.Linehan@exeter.ac.uk
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Linehan
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA