PHYSICS OF FERROELECTRIC AND ANTIFERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTALS, THE

"... this is an excellent and comprehensive book, especially for those who prefer a more formal treatment of the topics ... Because many of the topics apply to nonferroelectric liquid crystals as well, I believe that this book has an important place on the shelf of anybody who deals with liquid crystals; it is also an absolute 'must' for anybody who works on FLCs and AFLCs." Charles Rosenblatt Case Western Reserve University "The structure of the book is extremely logical and has been well thought out ... The real strength of the book is in the clear and concise explanations the authors give of many aspects of underlying theory and the implications of various experimental results. Many of the discussions of conflicting data and ideas are also presented in an unbiased way. This makes the book eminently readable, not only as a resource for advanced researchers in the area, but also as a first introduction for new graduate students ... This is an essential reference work and should occupy a place on all liquid-crystal bookcases." Journal of Applied Crystallography, 2003

• Symmetry and ferroelectricity in liquid crystals; incommensurate liquid crystals; the classical Landau model of ferroelectric liquid crystals; ferroelectric liquid crystals in external electric and magnetic fields; the generalized Landau model and the behaviour in external fields - dipolar and quadrupolar order in ferroelectric liquid crystals; thermodynamic properties of ferroelectric liquid crystals; light propagation in ferroelectric liquid crystals; the dynamics of ferroelectric liquid crystals; local ordering in ferroelectric liquid crystals; microscopic theory of ferroelectric liquid crystals; classes of ferroelectric liquid crystals, ferroelectricity in mixtures; free standing Sm C* films; polymeric liquid crystalline ferroelectrics and liquid crystal glasses; the possibility of ferroelectric ordering in Lyotropic liquid crystals and living tissues; optical bistability and switching in surface stabilized (SS) ferroelectric liquid crystals; the soft mode in the Sm A* phase and the electroclinic effect; the field distorted helix; anti-ferroelectric liquid crystals - structure, theoretical, model, dielectric properties, tristable switching, potential applications; ferroelectric liquid crystal devices; non-linear optics of liquid crystals.