Orientation fall transient

The liquid phase of molecular matter is usually isotropic at equilibrium but becomes birefringent in response to an externally applied torque. The computer can be used to simulate (1) the development of this birefringence —the rise transient (2) the properties of the liquid at equilibrium under the influence of an arbitrarily strong torque and (3) the return to equilibrium when the torques are removed instantaneously—the fall transient. Evans initially considered the general case of the asymmetric top (C2 symmetry) diffusing in three-dimensional space and made no assumptions about the nature of the rotational and translational motion other than those inherent in the simulation technique itself. A sample of 108 such molecules was taken, each molecule s orientation described by three unit vectors, e, Cg, and parallel to its principal moment-of-inertia axes. 

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