1 research outputs found
Star polymers: A study of the structural arrest in presence of attractive interactions
Simulations and Mode-Coupling Theory calculations, for a large range of the
arm number and packing fraction have shown that the structural
arrest and the dynamics of star polymers in a good solvent are extremely rich:
the systems show a reentrant melting of the disordered glass nested between two
stable fluid phases that strongly resemble the equilibrium phase diagram.
Starting from a simple model potential we investigate the effect of the
interplay between attractive interactions of different range and ultrasoft core
repulsion, on the dynamics and on the occurrence of the ideal glass transition
line. In the two cases considered so far, we observed some significant
differences with respect to the purely repulsive pair interaction. We also
discuss the interplay between equilibrium and non equilibrium phase behavior.
The accuracy of the theoretical tools we utilized in our investigation has been
checked by comparing the results with molecular dynamics simulations.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review