Semisoft nematic elastomers and nematics in crossed electric and magnetic fields.
Nematic elastomers with a locked-in anisotropy direction exhibit semisoft elastic response characterized by a plateau in the stress-strain curve in which stress does not change with strain. We calculate the global phase diagram for a minimal model, which is equivalent to one describing a nematic in crossed electric and magnetic fields, and show that semisoft behavior is associated with a broken symmetry biaxial phase and that it persists well into the supercritical regime. We also consider generalizations beyond the minimal model and find similar results.
Ye
Fangfu
F
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Mukhopadhyay
Ranjan
R
Stenull
Olaf
O
Lubensky
T C
TC