On the Microscopic Origin of Cholesteric Pitch

TL;DR

This paper investigates the microscopic origins of cholesteric pitch in liquid crystals, emphasizing the importance of short-range biaxial correlations and introducing an order parameter to quantify molecular chirality.

Contribution

It provides a microscopic analysis linking molecular chirality and cholesteric pitch, highlighting the role of previously overlooked biaxial correlations.

Findings

Short-range biaxial correlations are crucial for cholesteric pitch formation.

An order parameter for molecular chirality is proposed.

Molecular chirality perturbatively influences nematic phase stability.

Abstract

We present a microscopic analysis of the instability of the nematic phase to chirality when molecular chirality is introduced perturbatively. We show that previously neglected short-range biaxial correlations play a crucial role in determining the cholesteric pitch. We propose an order parameter which quantifies the chirality of a molecule.