Simulations Using Hard Particles

A short review is given of recent progress in the computer simulation of liquid crystal phases using hard particles. Emphasis is placed on the richness of phase behaviour that may result from the effects of molecular size and shape alone, and on the role of simulations in testing modern theories of liquid crystal phase transitions, structure and dynamics. Two specific examples are treated in detail: the simulation of twisted nematic liquid crystals, allowing a direct calculation of the twist elastic constant and the helical twisting power of chiral dopant molecules; and the recent quantitative explanation of diffusive behaviour in isotropic and nematic liquids using kinetic theory.