Reorientation in Random Potential: A Model for Glasslike Dynamics in Confined Liquid Crystals

The dynamical behavior of polymer dispersed nematic liquid crystals was studied by quasielastic light scattering. In addition to fast intradroplet orientational fluctuations a slow stretched exponential relaxation with a stretching exponent $s\sim 0.2$ was observed. This process is modeled with a reorientation of the average director of the droplets in a random potential. The model can be used to describe the glasslike dynamics in similar systems, for example, in silica aerogel filled with liquid crystals.