Resumo

PAREDES, R; FARINAS-SANCHEZ, A.I  e  BERCHE, B. Transiciones de fase topológicas en cristales líquidos. Rev. mex. fis. [online]. 2006, vol.52, suppl.3, pp. 181-184. ISSN 0035-001X.

By means of Monte Carlo simulations, using finite size scaling and conformal transformations, evidences of a topological phase transition in liquid crystals in two dimensions are reported. A paramagnetic phase appears at high temperature whereas a quasi-long-range-order (QLRO) phase is founded at low temperatures. It is determined that the correlation function exponent, at very low temperatures, is linear with the temperature, a typical behavior of spin waves. This contradicts predictions that for systems with non-abelian group of global symmetry the spin waves are not relevant. Aditionally, the implications that would have the presence of impurities in this type of transitions is discussed.

Palavras-chave : Topological phase transition; liquid crystal; conformal mapping.