Universal Elasticity and Fluctuations of Nematic Gels
Abstract
We study elasticity of spontaneously orientationally ordered amorphous solids, characterized by a vanishing transverse shear modulus, as realized by nematic elastomers and gels. We show that local heterogeneities and elastic nonlinearities conspire to lead to anomalous nonlocal universal elasticity controlled by a nontrivial infrared fixed point. Namely, such solids are characterized by universal shear and bending moduli that, respectively, vanish and diverge at long scales, are universally incompressible, and exhibit a universal negative Poisson ratio and a non-Hookean elasticity down to arbitrarily low strains. Based on expansion about five dimensions, we argue that the nematic order is stable to thermal fluctuation and local heterogeneities down to dlc<3.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- April 2003
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.168301
- arXiv:
- arXiv:cond-mat/0209422
- Bibcode:
- 2003PhRvL..90p8301X
- Keywords:
-
- 82.70.Gg;
- 62.20.-x;
- 83.80.Xz;
- Gels and sols;
- Mechanical properties of solids;
- Liquid crystals: nematic cholesteric smectic discotic etc.;
- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter
- E-Print:
- 4 RevTeX pgs, submitted to PRL