title: Semisoft nematic elastomers and nematics in crossed electric and magnetic fields.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Fangfu
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Ranjan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stenull
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lubensky