Plucking a liquid chord: Mechanical response of a liquid crystal filament, Phys

This paper describes an investigation of mechanical properties of freely suspended liquid filaments. These unique fluid microstructures may be formed by layered liq-uid crystalline mesophases. The filaments are electrically deflected and stimulated to mechanical oscillations. Resonance frequencies and damping rates are recorded. We introduce a model for a basic description of the dynamics, which is used to evaluate and to discuss the forces involved. The dependence of the oscillation parameters upon geometrical parameters and temperature is analyzed. Thin liquid fibers are among the most fascinating structures in complex fluids. In some non-Newtonian liquids, fibers can form in rheological processes when such material is pulled from a reservoir, for example in polymer nematics and columnar phases [1, 2]. Nematic ordering also plays a role in biological filaments, e.g. [3]. In this study, we investigate filaments that are not stabilized by dynamic effects but primarily by their internal molecular layer structure. It is well known that smectic liquid crystals, similar to soap solutions, can form thin stable free standing films. Few phases of bent-core mesogens, however, are know