The smectic C phase of liquid crystals

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Abstract
The possibility of the smectic A to C phase transition is discussed, using a model based on the dipole-dipole interaction of the polar bonds of the molecules, which are supposed to rotate randomly around their long axis in both the A and C phases. Two different choices of the two-particle distribution function are used, and in each case the appropriate fluctuations involved in the transition are taken into account. In both cases, in the meanfield approximation, we find that the A to C transition can be of first or second order. The model is then compared with experimental results