Isotropic-Nematic transition of long thin hard spherocylinders confined in a quasi-two-dimensional planar geometry

TL;DR

This study uses computer simulations to analyze the isotropic-nematic phase transition of long thin hard spherocylinders confined in a quasi-two-dimensional slit, revealing a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition influenced by confinement.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed simulation analysis of the isotropic-nematic transition in confined long spherocylinders, highlighting the transition's nature and dependence on slit width.

Findings

Transition is of Kosterlitz-Thouless type

Transition density increases with slit separation

Qualitative agreement with microtubule experiments

Abstract

We present computer simulations of long thin hard spherocylinders in a narrow planar slit. We observe a transition from the isotropic to a nematic phase with quasi-long-range orientational order upon increasing the density. This phase transition is intrinsically two dimensional and of the Kosterlitz-Thouless type. The effective two-dimensional density at which this transition occurs increases with plate separation. We qualitatively compare some of our results with experiments where microtubules are confined in a thin slit, which gave the original inspiration for this work.