Liquids with Chiral Bond Order

(Received 12 July 1995, received in final form 8 January 1996, accepted 9 January 1995)

Abstract
I describe new phases of a chiral liquid crystal with nematic and hexatic order. I find a conical phase, similar to that of a cholesteric in an applied magnetic field for Frank elastic constants K₂ > K₃. I discuss the role of fluctuations in the context of this phase and the possibility of satisfying the inequality for sufficiently long polymers. In addition I derive the topological constraint relating defects in the bond order field to textures of the nematic and elucidate its physical meaning. Finally I make the analogy between smectic liquid crystals and chiral hexatics and propose a defect-riddled ground state, akin to the Renn-Lubensky twist grain boundary phase of chiral smectics.