Department of Physics Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
2-24-1997
Publication Source
Physical Review Letters
Volume
78
Issue
8
Start Page
1476
Last Page
1479
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.1476
Abstract
We present a microscopic analysis of the instability of the nematic phase to chirality when molecular chirality is introduced perturbatively. We show that for central-force interactions the previously neglected short–range biaxial correlations play a crucial role in determining the cholesteric pitch. We propose a pseudoscalar strength which quantifies the chirality of a molecule.
Recommended Citation
Harris, A., Kamien, R. D., & Lubensky, T. C. (1997). Microscopic Origin of Cholesteric Pitch. Physical Review Letters, 78 (8), 1476-1479. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.1476
Date Posted: 20 August 2015
This document has been peer reviewed.
Comments
An Erratum for this article, published at Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 2867 (1997) is attached as an additional file.