The first attempts to simulate the formation of such systems were undertaken in the early 70's. The molecules were then represented as hard spherocylinders or hard ellipsoids of revolution. Although some evidence of the formation of a metastable orientationally ordered liquid phase were obtained, those simulations suffered from serious limitations. Since then, the models were continuously refined to overcome those limitations. Indeed, he use of such potentials allows to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the formation of nematic LC phases by introducing anisotropic repulsive and attractive dispersion forces.
Current simulations produce results much closer to experimental data.
Furthermore, he will have the opportunity to develop his programming skills with a particular emphasis on optimisation techniques. This project gives a very good overview of the type of work expected during a PhD and as such can prove to be an invaluable experience for would-be PhD students. Expertise Required A good knowledge of Fortran or C would be welcome. Resources Required Workstations cluster. Allen, M.,P. and Tildesley, D.,J. 1987.