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arxiv: cond-mat/9701008 · v2 · submitted 1997-01-02 · ❄️ cond-mat.soft · cond-mat.dis-nn

Dirt Softens Soap: Anomalous Elasticity of Disordered Smectics

classification ❄️ cond-mat.soft cond-mat.dis-nn
keywords anomalousdisorderedelasticitymodulussmecticsadditionaerogelbend
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We show that a smectic in a disordered medium (e.g., aerogel) exhibits anomalous elasticity, with the compression modulus B(k) vanishing and the bend modulus K(k) diverging as k --> 0. In addition, the effective disorder develops long ranged correlations. These divergences are much stronger than those driven by thermal fluctuations in pure smectics, and are controlled by a zero temperature glassy fixed point, which we study in an $\epsilon=5-d$ expansion. We discuss the experimental implications of these theoretical predictions.

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