Optical anisotropy of nematics

Where does such a strong scattering anisotropy originate from It is evident that the optical anisotropy of nematic hquid crystals plays the crucial role. In fact, the scattering is caused by fluctuations of the director n, i.e. the local orientation of the order parameter tensor. The local changes in orientation of n imply local changes in orientation of the optical indicatrix. 

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