Density functional theory of phase coexistence in weakly polydisperse fluids

The recently proposed universal relations between the moments of the polydispersity distributions of a phase-separated weakly polydisperse system are analyzed in detail using the numerical results obtained by solving a simple density functional theory of a polydisperse fluid. It is shown that universal properties are the exception rather than the rule.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in PR

Hard-core Yukawa model for two-dimensional charge stabilized colloids

The hyper-netted chain (HNC) and Percus-Yevick (PY) approximations are used to study the phase diagram of a simple hard-core Yukawa model of charge-stabilized colloidal particles in a two-dimensional system. We calculate the static structure factor and the pair distribution function over a wide range of parameters. Using the statics correlation functions we present an estimate for the liquid-solid phase diagram for the wide range of the parameters.Comment: 7 pages, 9figure

Effect of intersubband scattering on weak localization in 2D systems

The theory of weak localization is generalized for multilevel 2D systems taking into account intersubband scattering. It is shown that weak intersubband scattering which is negligible in a classical transport, affects strongly the weak-localization correction to conductivity. The anomalous magnetoresistance is calculated in the whole range of classically low magnetic fields. This correction to conductivity is shown to depend strongly on the ratios of occupied level concentrations. It is demonstrated that at relatively low population of the excited subband, it is necessary to use the present theory because the high-field limit asimptotics is shown to be achieved only in classical magnetic fields.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to Phys. Rev. B 6

Macromolecular theory of solvation and structure in mixtures of colloids and polymers

The structural and thermodynamic properties of mixtures of colloidal spheres and non-adsorbing polymer chains are studied within a novel general two-component macromolecular liquid state approach applicable for all size asymmetry ratios. The dilute limits, when one of the components is at infinite dilution but the other concentrated, are presented and compared to field theory and models which replace polymer coils with spheres. Whereas the derived analytical results compare well, qualitatively and quantitatively, with mean-field scaling laws where available, important differences from ``effective sphere'' approaches are found for large polymer sizes or semi-dilute concentrations.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

Percolation in random environment

We consider bond percolation on the square lattice with perfectly correlated random probabilities. According to scaling considerations, mapping to a random walk problem and the results of Monte Carlo simulations the critical behavior of the system with varying degree of disorder is governed by new, random fixed points with anisotropic scaling properties. For weaker disorder both the magnetization and the anisotropy exponents are non-universal, whereas for strong enough disorder the system scales into an {\it infinite randomness fixed point} in which the critical exponents are exactly known.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Formation of ethane and propane via abiotic reductive conversion of acetic acid in hydrothermal sediments

A mechanistic understanding of formation pathways of lowmolecular- weight hydrocarbons is relevant for disciplines such as atmospheric chemistry, geology, and astrobiology. The patterns of stable carbon isotopic compositions (δ13C) of hydrocarbons are commonly used to distinguish biological, thermogenic, and abiotic sources. Here, we report unusual isotope patterns of nonmethane hydrocarbons in hydrothermally heated sediments of the Guaymas Basin; these nonmethane hydrocarbons are notably 13Cenriched relative to sedimentary organic matter and display an isotope pattern that is reversed relative to thermogenic hydrocarbons (i.e., δ13C ethane > δ13C propane > δ13C n-butane > δ13C n-pentane). We hypothesized that this pattern results from abiotic reductive conversion of volatile fatty acids, which were isotopically enriched due to prior equilibration of their carboxyl carbon with dissolved inorganic carbon. This hypothesis was tested by hydrous pyrolysis experiments with isotopically labeled substrates at 350°C and 400 bar that demonstrated 1) the exchange of carboxyl carbon of C2 to C5 volatile fatty acids with 13C-bicarbonate and 2) the incorporation of 13C from 13C-2-acetic acid into ethane and propane. Collectively, our results reveal an abiotic formation pathway for nonmethane hydrocarbons, which may be sufficiently active in organic-rich, geothermally heated sediments and petroleum systems to affect isotopic compositions of nonmethane hydrocarbons