Density functional theory for hard spherocylinders: phase transitions in the bulk and in the presence of external fields

The phase behaviour of hard spherocylinders is calculated using the classical density functional theory of freezing. In particular, we construct a modified weighted-density approximation and calculate the bulk phase diagram. While the stability regime of the isotropic, nematic and smectic-A phases is in reasonable agreement with computer simulation data, the theory fails to describe the correct stability of the crystalline phases. Furthermore, we investigate the phase behaviour in an external field coupling to the orientational degrees of freedom. As a result, bulk phases which have the same translational symmetry but a different orientational symmetry can be transformed continuously into each other above a critical strength of the external field.