Abstract
An orientational order mechanism, which may lead to a symmetry change from a higher-temperature hexagonal columnar phase to lower-symmetry phases with two-dimensional rectangular symmetry, is considered. A tensor density function is invoked to describe the symmetry change through the phase transition. For a transition corresponding to a symmetry breaking in the plane perpendicular to the column axes, the molecular orientation in the plane at the low-temperature phase is determined. Transitions in which there is a symmetry breaking out of the plane are briefly discussed.
- Received 31 July 1985
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.33.2735
©1986 American Physical Society