Chirality in Liquid Crystals

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Introduction

   • Heinz-Siegfried Kitzerow, Christian Bahr

   Pages 1-27

3. Classroom Experiments with Chiral Liquid Crystals

   • Pawel Pieranski

   Pages 28-66

4. From a Chiral Molecule to a Chiral Anisotropic Phase

   • Hans-Georg Kuball, Tatiana Höfer

   Pages 67-100

5. Chemical Structures and Polymorphism

   • Volkmar Vill

   Pages 101-114

6. Cholesteric Liquid Crystals: Defects and Topology

   • O. D. Lavrentovich, M. Kleman

   Pages 115-158

7. Cholesteric Liquid Crystals: Optics, Electro-optics, and Photo-optics

   • Guram Chilaya

   Pages 159-185

8. Blue Phases

   • Peter P. Crooker

   Pages 186-222

9. Smectic Liquid Crystals: Ferroelectric Properties and Electroclinic Effect

   • Christian Bahr

   Pages 223-250

10. Smectic Liquid Crystals: Antiferroelectric and Ferrielectric Phases

    • Hideo Takezoe, Yoichi Takanishi

    Pages 251-295

11. Twist Grain Boundary Phases

    • Heinz-Siegfried Kitzerow

    Pages 296-354

12. Columnar Liquid Crystals

    • Harald Bock

    Pages 355-374

13. Some Aspects of Polymer Dispersed and Polymer Stabilized Chiral Liquid Crystals

    • Gregory P. Crawford, Daniel Svenšek, Slobodan Žumer

    Pages 375-432

14. Chirality in Liquid Crystal Elastomers

    • P. Stein, H. Finkelmann

    Pages 433-446

15. Phase Chirality of Micellar Lyotropic Liquid Crystals

    • Karl Hiltrop

    Pages 447-480

16. Traveling Phase Boundaries with the Broken Symmetries of Life

    • P. E. Cladis

    Pages 481-493

17. Back Matter

    Pages 495-501

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Objects that differ from their mirror images, such as the left and right hands, play an important role in physics at all lengths scales, from elementary particles to macroscopic systems. The handedness, or chirality, of molecules in liquid crystals has a remarkable influence on the macroscopic physical properties of these systems, including the appearance of new phases. Indeed, the majority of optical applications of liquid crystals is due to chiral structures, namely the thermochromic effect of cholesteric liquid crystals, the optical activity in twisted nematic liquid crystal displays, and the ferroelectric and antiferroelectric switching of smectic liquid crystals.
This book describes the main aspects of chirality in liquid crystals, and points out some of the open questions of current research. The chapters, each by an expert in the field, review the highlights of the important topics and representative questions in the field of chiral liquid crystals.

• chemical structure
• crystal
• molecule
• optical activity
• optics
• physics
• polymer
• structure
• symmetry
• topology

• Department of Chemistry, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany

  Heinz-Siegfried Kitzerow

• Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany

  Christian Bahr

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