Dual Symmetry in Bent-Core Liquid Crystals and Unconventional Superconductors

Authors :: Bruno Mettout
Vladimir Lorman
Physique des Systèmes Complexes (PSC)
Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV)
Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Astroparticules (LPTA)
Université Montpellier 2 - Sciences et Techniques (UM2)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Physique des Systèmes Complexes - UR UPJV 4663 (PSC)
Source :: Symmetry, Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages 15-39, Symmetry, MDPI, 2010, 2 (1), pp.15-39. ⟨10.3390/sym2010015⟩, Symmetry, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 15-39 (2010)
Publication Year :: 2010
Publisher :: Molecular Diversity Preservation International, 2010.
Abstract: 25 pages; International audience; We extend the Landau theory of bent-core mesophases and d-wave high-Tc superconductors by considering additional secondary pseudo-proper order parameters. These systems exhibit a remarkable analogy relating their symmetry groups, list of phases and an infinite set of physical tensors. This analogy lies upon an internal dual structure shared by the two theories. We study the dual operator transforming rotations into translations in liquid crystals, and gauge symmetries into rottions in superconductors. It is used to classify the bent-core line defects, and to analyze the electronic gap structure of lamellar d-wave superfluids.