Diffusion equation for the nematic phase dielectric loss

Abstract

The loss features up to 18 GHz of the nematic and isotropic phases of n-heptyl-4-cyanobiphenyl are described with a model of Brownian motion with a superimposed potential. This is pairwise additive and is ultimately responsible for the formation of the nematic phase. The model reproduces the results better in the isotropic phase, since the initial Smoluchowski equation refers to isototropic reorientation, but could easily be extended to tensor properties.