Finsler geometry modeling and Monte Carlo study of 3D liquid crystal elastomer

TL;DR

This paper models 3D liquid crystal elastomers using Finsler geometry and employs Monte Carlo simulations to replicate their soft elasticity and elongation, aligning well with experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a Finsler geometry framework with a variable for liquid crystal orientation to simulate anisotropic behaviors in 3D liquid crystal elastomers.

Findings

Monte Carlo simulations reproduce soft elasticity consistent with experiments.

Elongation behavior observed matches experimental data.

Finsler geometry effectively models anisotropic properties of LCEs.

Abstract

We study a three-dimensional ($3D$) liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) in the context of Finsler geometry (FG) modeling, where FG is a mathematical framework for describing anisotropic phenomena. The LCE is a $3D$ rubbery object and has remarkable properties, such as the so-called soft elasticity and elongation, the mechanisms of which are unknown at present. To understand these anisotropic phenomena, we introduce a variable $\sigma$, which represents the directional degrees of freedom of a liquid crystal (LC) molecule. This variable $\sigma$ is used to define the Finsler metric for the interaction between the LC molecules and bulk polymers. Performing Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for a cylindrical body between two parallel plates, we numerically find the soft elasticity in MC data such that the tensile stress and strain are consistent with reported experimental results. Moreover, the elongation is also observed in the results of MC simulations of a spherical body with free boundaries, and the data obtained from the MC simulations are also consistent with existing experimental results.