Читать книгу Liquid Crystals - Iam-Choon Khoo - Страница 42

Nematics best exemplify the dual nature of liquid crystals – fluidity and crystalline structure. To describe their liquid‐like properties, one needs to invoke hydrodynamics. On the other hand, their crystalline properties necessitate theoretical formalisms pertaining to solids or crystals. To study their optical properties, it is also necessary that we invoke individual molecular electronic structures and collective crystalline properties. In this chapter, we discuss all three aspects of nematogen theory: solid‐state continuum theory, hydrodynamics, and electro‐optical properties, in that order.