BEHAVIOR OF A CHOLESTERIC SOLUTION OF POLY- gamma -BENZYL-L-GLUTAMATE IN A STATIONARY MAGNETIC FIELD.

The behavior of cholesteric solutions of poly- gamma -benzyl-L-glutamate in dichloroacetic acid in a stationary magnetic field was studied by the methods of polarization microscopy and small-angle diffraction of linearly polarized light. In the first period after the application of the magnetic field, the initial solution structure disintegrates into individualized fragments of elongated fibrillar form, preserving the cholesteric order in their interior. These fragments (cholesteric isochromates) reorient both clockwise and counterclockwise into a position where the axis of the cholesteric structure is perpendicular to the field directions. Together with the the axis of the cholesteric structure is perpendicular to the field direction. Together with the approach towards this position, an increase of the step of the cholesteric structure, i. e. its uncoiling occurs simultaneously with the reorientation.