Smectic phases

Smectic phase of the fused hard sphere model.

The work smectic comes from the Greek for soap ($\sigma \mu \acute{\eta }\gamma \mu \alpha$). All of the smectic phases are layered, belonging to the $G_1^3$ symmetry group.

Smectic A phase

In the smectic-A phase each layer is a 2-dimensional liquid, having the symmetry $D_{\mathrm{\infty }}$ in the Schoenflies notation.

Smectic C phase

The smectic-C phase has the monoclinic symmetry $C_{\mathrm{2}\mathrm{h}}$.

References

1. Pierre-Gilles De Gennes and J. Prost "Physics of Liquid Crystals" (1995)
2. Jan P. F. Lagerwall and Frank Giesselmann "Current Topics in Smectic Liquid Crystal Research", ChemPhysChem 7 pp. 20-45 (2006)