On the equation of state of a dense columnar liquid crystal

TL;DR

This paper develops an improved free-volume theory to accurately describe the equation of state of dense columnar liquid crystals, showing better agreement with simulations than traditional models.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach accounting for orientational entropy, leading to more precise predictions of thermodynamic properties at high densities.

Findings

Excellent quantitative agreement with Monte-Carlo simulations

Different high-density scaling pressure compared to traditional cell theory

Enhanced understanding of orientational entropy effects

Abstract

An accurate description of a columnar liquid crystal of hard disks at high packing fractions is presented using an improved free-volume theory. It is shown that the orientational entropy of the disks in the one-dimensional fluid direction leads to a different high-density scaling pressure compared to the prediction from traditional cell theory. Excellent quantitative agreement is found with recent Monte-Carlo simulation results for various thermodynamic and structural properties of the columnar state.