Phys. Rev. E 63, 062701 (2001) [4 pages]Observation of a pretransitional effect near a virtual smectic-A–smectic-C* transitionReceived 16 August 2000; published 15 May 2001 Unusual softening of the layer compression modulus B has been observed near the phase boundary where the smectic-C* phase vanishes in a naphtalene-based liquid crystal mixture. From the systematic study of x-ray and layer compression measurements, this unusual effect is attributed to the pretransitional softening near a virtual smectic-A–smectic-C* phase transition in the smectic-A phase, which no longer appears on the thermoequilibrium phase diagram. This phenomenon is similar but not equivalent to supercritical behavior. © 2001 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.63.062701
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.63.062701
PACS:
61.30.-v, 62.20.Dc, 64.70.Md
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