Studies of Liquid Crystals

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9415656 Meyer Technical abstract: This project concerns several related subjects in the physics of liquid crystals: colloidal liquid crystals based on aqueous virus suspensions, molecular aggregate liquid crystals, and dynamical systems and pattern formation. These inter-related subjects involve the physics of liquid crystals at three levels, the microscopic level of the molecules or particle and their interaction, the mesoscopic level of ordered phase formation and materials properties, and the macroscopic level of observable phenomenology. The objective is to develop fundamental understanding of liquid crystalline ordering and its consequences in the systems being studied. The general knowledge gained from these studies has implications for the synthesis and processing of novel materials, such as ultra-high-strength fibers, and for potential biosynthesis of materials in which self-assembly is important. %%% Non-technical abstract: This project concerns several related subjects in the physics of liquid crystals: colloidal liquid crystals based on aqueous virus suspensions, molecular aggregate liquid crystals, and dynamical systems and pattern formation. These inter-related subjects involve the physics of liquid crystals at three levels, the microscopic level of the molecules or particle and their interaction, the mesoscopic level of ordered phase formation and materials properties, and the macroscopic level of observable phenomenology. The objective is to develop fundamental understanding of liquid crystalline ordering and its consequences in the systems being studied. The general knowledge gained from these studies has implications for the synthesis and processing of novel materials, such as ultra-high-strength fibers, and for potential biosynthesis of materials in which self-assembly is important. ***