title: Possible new phase of antagonistic nematogens in a disorienting field.
abstract: A simple model is proposed for nematogenic molecules that favor perpendicular orientations as well as parallel ones. (Charged rods, for example, show this antagonistic tendency.) When a small disorienting field is applied along z, a low-density phase N- of nematic order parameter S(z)<0 coexists with a dense biaxial nematic N(b). (At zero field, N- becomes isotropic and N(b) uniaxial.) But at stronger fields, a new phase N+4, invariant under pi/2 rotations around the field axis, appears in between N- and N(b). Prospects for finding the N+4 phase experimentally are briefly discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, JCMB King's Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Sokolovska
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cates
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Sokolovskii