title: Capillary condensation in liquid-crystal colloids.
abstract: We study capillary condensation between two spherical particles dispersed in the isotropic phase of a nematic liquid crystal. Within the Landau-de Gennes theory, we calculate interaction energies due to the formation of capillary bridges that reproduce experimental observations. Close to the critical point of the transition line separating the no-bridge from the bridge configuration, fluctuations in the particle cluster might be described by an effective two-state system. We show that the transition line vanishes for small particles and that the shape of the interaction potential depends on particle size.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik, Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: Jun-ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoyama