Integrity basis approach to the elastic free energy functional of liquid crystals

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Abstract
Using the method integrity basis, the most general SO(3)-invariant free energy density up to all powers in xβ and up to second order in Qxβ,y is established. The method provides all analytically independent elastic modes for nematics and cholesterics in the form of 33 so-called, irreducible invariants. Interestingly, among the irreducible invariants there are only three chiral terms (i.e. linear in Qδ,β,y ). They give rise locally to three independent helix modes in chiral, biaxial liquid crystals. This conclusion generalizes results of Trebin and Govers and Vertogen and contradicts a statement of Pleiner and Brandt, according to which only one twist term is supposed to exist. The most general free energy expansion can be written as sum of 39 additive invariants, which are multiplied by arbitrary polynomials in TrQ2 and TrQ3.