Two New Topologically Ordered Glass Phases of Smectics Confined in Anisotropic Random Media
نویسندگان
چکیده
Smectics in strained aerogel exhibit two new glassy phases. The strain both ensures the stability of these phases and determines their nature. One type of strain induces an “XY Bragg glass,” while the other creates a novel, triaxially anisotropic “m � 1 Bragg glass.” The latter exhibits anomalous elasticity, characterized by exponents that we calculate to high precision. We predict the phase diagram, and numerous other experimentally observable scaling laws, for the system.
منابع مشابه
Topologically ordered phases of smectics confined in anisotropic random media: smectic Bragg glasses
We report the existence of two new topologically ordered glass phases of smectics in strained aerogel. In contrast to the case of unstrained aerogel, we find compelling theoretical arguments that a smectic in uniaxially stretched aerogel exhibits, for homeotropic nematic–aerogel alignment, a ‘smectic Bragg glass’ in the universality class of the ‘XY Bragg glass’. On the other hand, a uniaxial c...
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