A first object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition capable of forming a reflective layer having excellent diffuse reflectivity. A second object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a reflective layer having excellent diffuse reflectivity and a reflective layer having excellent diffuse reflectivity. A third object of the present invention is to provide a cured product and an optically anisotropic body, each of which is formed of the liquid crystal composition. The present invention relates to a liquid crystal composition including a liquid crystal compound; a chiral agent A whose helical twisting power is reduced upon light irradiation; and a chiral agent B which induces a helix in a direction opposite to that of the chiral agent A, in which the liquid crystal compound is cholesterically aligned in the direction of the helix induced by the chiral agent B in a case where the liquid crystal compound is aligned into a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase state.

A liquid crystal composition contains a side chain type polymer liquid crystalline compound which can form a light absorption anisotropic film having a high alignment degree and has excellent solubility in a general-purpose solvent, a light absorption anisotropic film obtained using the composition, a laminate, and an image display device. The composition includes: a side chain type polymer liquid crystalline compound; and a dichroic substance, in which the compound is a copolymer having a repeating unit (1) containing a mesogenic group with a molecular weight of greater than 280 and a repeating unit (2) with a molecular weight of 280 or less, a content of the repeating unit (2) is less than 14% by mass with respect to a total mass of the compound, and a content of the dichroic substance is greater than 2% by mass with respect to a total solid content of the composition.

Provided is a laser oscillation element including a cholesteric liquid crystal layer, in which even in a case where the intensity of excitation light is weak, laser oscillation can be induced. The laser oscillation element includes a cholesteric liquid crystal layer obtained by cholesteric alignment of a liquid crystal compound, in which in a cross-section of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer observed with a scanning electron microscope, bright portions and dark portions derived from the cholesteric liquid crystalline phase are tilted with respect to a main surface of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer, the cholesteric liquid crystal layer includes a colorant that emits light by excitation, and a luminescence wavelength range of the colorant and a selective reflection wavelength range of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer at least partially overlap each other.

An object of the present invention is to provide a phase difference film having excellent alignment without the need for alignment treatment on a support, a method for manufacturing a phase difference film, a polarizing plate, and a liquid crystal display device. The phase difference film of the present invention includes a support, and a liquid crystal layer formed of a liquid crystal composition containing a liquid crystalline compound so as to be in contact with the support, in which a surface energy of a surface of the support on which the liquid crystal layer is formed is 45 mN/m or more and a non-polar dispersion force component included in the surface energy is 45 mN/m or more, the liquid crystalline compound is immobilized in an aligned state, and a contrast is more than 10000.

Provided is a laminate which is suppressed in crystal precipitation in a pressure sensitive adhesive layer containing an ultraviolet absorber and which has an optically anisotropic layer exhibiting excellent light resistance; a liquid crystal display device; and an organic EL display device. The laminate includes a pressure sensitive adhesive layer and an optically anisotropic layer, in which the pressure sensitive adhesive layer contains a (meth)acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive and a compound represented by Formula (I), and the optically anisotropic layer is a layer formed of a composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound exhibiting reverse wavelength dispersibility.

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Provided is a laminate which is suppressed in crystal precipitation in a transparent resin film containing an ultraviolet absorber even in an evaluation of moisture-heat resistance and which has an optically anisotropic layer exhibiting excellent light resistance; a liquid crystal display device; and an organic EL display device. The laminate includes a transparent resin film and an optically anisotropic layer, in which the transparent resin film contains a resin and a resin and a compound represented by Formula (I), the resin is at least one resin selected from the group consisting of a cellulose-based resin, a (meth)acrylic resin, a polyester-based resin, a polyamide-based resin, a polyimide-based resin, and a cycloolefin-based resin, and the optically anisotropic layer is a layer formed of a composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound exhibiting reverse wavelength dispersibility.

##STR00001##

Provided is a pressure sensitive adhesive sheet having excellent light resistance (particularly, excellent light resistance for light having a wavelength of 370 to 400 nm), a laminate, a display device, and an organic EL display device. The pressure sensitive adhesive sheet includes a (meth)acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive and a compound represented by Formula (I), in which the (meth)acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive is formed of a (meth)acrylic resin, and an absolute value of a difference between a log P value of the (meth)acrylic resin and a log P value of the compound represented by Formula (I) is 2.50 or more.

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A polarizer with a high degree of alignment and an image display device including the polarizer. The polarizer is formed of a polarizer-forming composition containing a liquid crystal compound, a first dichroic material, and a second dichroic material, in which the polarizer has an array structure formed of the first dichroic material and an array structure formed of the second dichroic material.

The present invention provides a polymerizable composition containing a specific polymerizable compound and a fluorosurfactant having, in its molecule, a pentaerythritol skeleton or a dipentaerythritol skeleton. The invention also provides an optically anisotropic body, a retardation film, an antireflective film, and a liquid crystal display device that are produced using the polymerizable composition of the present invention. The present invention is useful because, when an optically anisotropic body is produced by photo-polymerization of the polymerizable composition, three features including the leveling properties of the surface of the optically anisotropic body, offset onto the substrate, and liquid crystal alignment can be improved simultaneously.

An object of the present invention is to provide a polymerizable liquid crystal composition which has excellent coating properties, is capable of suppressing film thickness unevenness, and has good coating properties for an upper layer coating liquid after being formed as an optically anisotropic layer, an anisotropic layer formed using the same; an optical laminate; a method for producing an optical laminate, and an image display device. The polymerizable liquid crystal composition of the embodiment of the present invention is a polymerizable liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound, a polymerization initiator, and a compound having a monovalent specific group including a cleavage group capable of decomposing by an action of at least one selected from the group consisting of light, heat, an acid, and a base to generate a polar group, in which the specific group has a fluorine atom or a silicon atom on a side closer to a terminal than the cleavage group.