comparison of orientational and translational order in liquid crystalline mesophases composed of rod-shape mesogens, with a progressive increase of temperature. From left to right: Cr (crystalline), SmC (smectic C), SmA (smectic A), N (nematic), L (liquid) and G (gas) phases. Director n (given by the spatial and temporal average of the long molecular axes), translational order vector k and tilt angle theta between the latter two are also shown.