Anisotropic translational diffusion in the nematic phase: dynamical signature of the coupling between orientational and translational order in the energy landscape

Abstract

We find in a model system of thermotropic liquid crystals that the translational diffusion coefficient parallel to the director D_|| first increases and then decreases as temperature drops through the nematic phase, and this reversal occurs where the smectic order parameter of the underlying inherent structures becomes significant. We argue, based on an energy landscape analysis, that the coupling between orientational and translational order can play a role in inducing the nonmonotonic temperature behavior of D_||. Such a view is likely to form the foundation of a theoretical framework to explain the anisotropic translation diffusion.