Intermolecular forces and orientational phase transitions in molecular crystals

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Abstract
The conditions under which one expects orientational phase transitions are discussed in the introduction. Then we consider the interactions between molecules and construct a Hamiltonian which is compared with the spin Hamiltonians that are in common use in the field of critical phenomena. A definition of the order parameter is given with special attention to the ordering of higher multipoles and with a discussion of its experimental determination. Finally the opportunities of obtaining information about critical exponents are considered, but the prospect is rather unpromising.