In silico study of liquid crystalline phases formed by bent-shaped molecules with excluded volume type interactions

We have numerically studied a liquid composed of achiral, bent-shaped molecules built tangent spheres. The system is known to spontaneously break mirror symmetry, as it forms macroscopically chiral, twist-bend nematic phase [Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 147801 (2015)]. Here, we examined the full diagram such and observed several phases characterized by orientational and/or translational ordering molecules. Apart from conventional nematic, smectic A, above-mentioned phase, identified antiferroelectric A phase. For large densities high degree molecule's structural bend, another emerged, where polarization vector rotates within single layer. These results were confirmed using both Monte Carlo molecular dynamics simulations.