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SUMMARY:The Landau theory of liquid crystals and its molecular interpretat
 ion - Longa\, L (Uniwersytet Jagiellonski)
DTSTART:20130108T102000Z
DTEND:20130108T110000Z
UID:TALK42316@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mustapha Amrani
DESCRIPTION:A purpose of this review is to give a systematic exposition of
  the Landau theory of phase transitions (LTPT). The construction of the La
 ndau free energy expansion and the methods to identify the equilibrium str
 uctures will be discussed and illustrated with examples of phase transitio
 ns involving nematic- and smectic phases. Then it will be demonstrated \nh
 ow the Landau theory can be derived in a systematic way from (molecular) d
 ensity functional theories\, like mean field. This connection is especiall
 y attractive for it allows to view the LTPT as a simple tool to study bifu
 rcation mechanisms\, leading to phase transitions at the level of molecula
 r modeling.\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Newton Institute
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