Liquid crystals are known for their fascinating optical properties. This
work describes the experiments on light scattering and theoretical
calculations on nonlinear optics in liquid crystals. Light scattering is
a powerful tool to study the viscoelastic response of liquid crystals
which is an essential parameter for display industry. Both thermotropic
and lyotropic systems were probed by light scattering. Thermal
nonlinearities in cholesteric liquid crystals are described in this book
and various surprising liquid crystal phase transitions in the presence
of a laser beam are reported. The work described in the book is based on
Ph.D. work carried out by Amit K Agarwal at the Raman Research
Institute, India and all intellectual and other legal rights arising out
of this work are owned by the Institute and they are acknowledged and
protected.