  Recent experiments have reported that ferroelectric nanoparticles have
drastic effects on nematic liquid crystals--increasing the isotropic-nematic
transition temperature by about 5 K, and greatly increasing the sensitivity to
applied electric fields. To understand these effects, we develop a theory for
the statistical mechanics of ferroelectric nanoparticles in liquid crystals.
This theory predicts the enhancements of liquid-crystal properties, in good
agreement with experiments. These predictions apply even when electrostatic
interactions are partially screened by moderate concentrations of ions.
