The nematic phase in stripe forming systems within the self consistent screening approximation

Abstract

We show that in order to describe the isotropic-nematic transition in stripe forming systems with isotropic competing interactions of the Brazovskii class it is necessary to consider the next to leading order in a 1/N approximation for the effective Hamiltonian. This can be conveniently accomplished within the self-consistent screening approximation. We solve the relevant equations and show that the self-energy in this approximation is able to generate the essential wave vector dependence to account for the anisotropic character of two-point correlation function characteristic of a nematic phase.