3,884 research outputs found
Microphase separation in polyelectrolytic diblock copolymer melt : weak segregation limit
We present a generalized theory of microphase separation for charged-neutral
diblock copolymer melt. Stability limit of the disordered phase for salt-free
melt has been calculated using Random Phase Approximation (RPA) and
self-consistent field theory (SCFT). Explicit analytical free energy
expressions for different classical ordered microstructures (lamellar, cylinder
and sphere) are presented. We demonstrate that chemical mismatch required for
the onset of microphase separation () in charged-neutral
diblock melt is higher and the period of ordered microstructures is lower than
those for the corresponding neutral-neutral diblock system. Theoretical
predictions on the period of ordered structures in terms of Coulomb
electrostatic interaction strength, chain length, block length, and the
chemical mismatch between blocks are presented. SCFT has been used to go beyond
the stability limit, where electrostatic potential and charge distribution are
calculated self-consistently. Stability limits calculated using RPA are in
perfect agreement with the corresponding SCFT calculations. Limiting laws for
stability limit and the period of ordered structures are presented and
comparisons are made with an earlier theory. Also, transition boundaries
between different morphologies have been investigated
Orientations of the lamellar phase of block copolymer melts under oscillatory shear flow
We develop a theory to describe the reorientation phenomena in the lamellar
phase of block copolymer melt under reciprocating shear flow. We show that
similar to the steady-shear, the oscillating flow anisotropically suppresses
fluctuations and gives rise to the parallel-perpendicular orientation
transition. The experimentally observed high-frequency reverse transition is
explained in terms of interaction between the melt and the shear-cell walls.Comment: RevTex, 3 pages, 1 figure, submitted to PR
Self-diffusion of Rod-like Viruses Through Smectic Layer
We report the direct visualization at the scale of single particles of mass
transport between smectic layers, also called permeation, in a suspension of
rod-like viruses. Self-diffusion takes place preferentially in the direction
normal to the smectic layers, and occurs by quasi-quantized steps of one rod
length. The diffusion rate corresponds with the rate calculated from the
diffusion in the nematic state with a lamellar periodic ordering potential that
is obtained experimentally.Comment: latex, 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
The Crystal Structure of the Extracellular 11-heme Cytochrome UndA Reveals a Conserved 10-heme Motif and Defined Binding Site for Soluble Iron Chelates
Members of the genus Shewanella translocate deca- or undeca-heme cytochromes to the external cell surface thus enabling respiration using extracellular minerals and polynuclear Fe(III) chelates. The high resolution structure of the first undeca-heme outer membrane cytochrome, UndA, reveals a crossed heme chain with four potential electron ingress/egress sites arranged within four domains. Sequence and structural alignment of UndA and the deca-heme MtrF reveals the extra heme of UndA is inserted between MtrF hemes 6 and 7. The remaining UndA hemes can be superposed over the heme chain of the decaheme MtrF, suggesting that a ten heme core is conserved between outer membrane cytochromes. The UndA structure has also been crystallographically resolved in complex with substrates, an Fe(III)-nitrilotriacetate dimer or an Fe(III)-citrate trimer. The structural resolution of these UndA-Fe(III)-chelate complexes provides a rationale for previous kinetic measurements on UndA and other outer membrane cytochromes
Orientational phase transitions in the hexagonal phase of a diblock copolymer melt under shear flow
We generalize the earlier theory by Fredrickson [J. Rheol. v.38, 1045 (1994)]
to study the orientational behaviour of the hexagonal phase of diblock
copolymer melt subjected to steady shear flow. We use symmetry arguments to
show that the orientational ordering in the hexagonal phase is a much weaker
effect than in the lamellae. We predict the parallel orientation to be stable
at low and the perpendicular orientation at high shear rates. Our analysis
reproduces the experimental results by Tepe et al. [Macromolecules v.28, 3008
(1995)] and explains the difficulties in experimental observation of the
different orientations in the hexagonal phase.Comment: 21 pages, 6 eps figures, submitted to Physical Review
Determination of complex dielectric functions of ion implanted and implanted‐annealed amorphous silicon by spectroscopic ellipsometry
Measuring with a spectroscopic ellipsometer (SE) in the 1.8–4.5 eV photon energy region we determined the complex dielectric function (ϵ = ϵ1 + iϵ2) of different kinds of amorphous silicon prepared by self‐implantation and thermal relaxation (500 °C, 3 h). These measurements show that the complex dielectric function (and thus the complex refractive index) of implanted a‐Si (i‐a‐Si) differs from that of relaxed (annealed) a‐Si (r‐a‐Si). Moreover, its ϵ differs from the ϵ of evaporated a‐Si (e‐a‐Si) found in the handbooks as ϵ for a‐Si. If we use this ϵ to evaluate SE measurements of ion implanted silicon then the fit is very poor. We deduced the optical band gap of these materials using the Davis–Mott plot based on the relation: (ϵ2E2)1/3 ∼ (E− Eg). The results are: 0.85 eV (i‐a‐Si), 1.12 eV (e‐a‐Si), 1.30 eV (r‐a‐Si). We attribute the optical change to annihilation of point defects
Global Stationary Phase and the Sign Problem
We present a computational strategy for reducing the sign problem in the
evaluation of high dimensional integrals with non-positive definite weights.
The method involves stochastic sampling with a positive semidefinite weight
that is adaptively and optimally determined during the course of a simulation.
The optimal criterion, which follows from a variational principle for analytic
actions S(z), is a global stationary phase condition that the average gradient
of the phase Im(S) along the sampling path vanishes. Numerical results are
presented from simulations of a model adapted from statistical field theories
of classical fluids.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publicatio
Interfaces of Modulated Phases
Numerically minimizing a continuous free-energy functional which yields
several modulated phases, we obtain the order-parameter profiles and
interfacial free energies of symmetric and non-symmetric tilt boundaries within
the lamellar phase, and of interfaces between coexisting lamellar, hexagonal,
and disordered phases. Our findings agree well with chevron, omega, and
T-junction tilt-boundary morphologies observed in diblock copolymers and
magnetic garnet films.Comment: 4 page
Jamming percolation and glassy dynamics
We present a detailed physical analysis of the dynamical glass-jamming
transition which occurs for the so called Knight models recently introduced and
analyzed in a joint work with D.S.Fisher \cite{letterTBF}. Furthermore, we
review some of our previous works on Kinetically Constrained Models.
The Knights models correspond to a new class of kinetically constrained
models which provide the first example of finite dimensional models with an
ideal glass-jamming transition. This is due to the underlying percolation
transition of particles which are mutually blocked by the constraints. This
jamming percolation has unconventional features: it is discontinuous (i.e. the
percolating cluster is compact at the transition) and the typical size of the
clusters diverges faster than any power law when . These
properties give rise for Knight models to an ergodicity breaking transition at
: at and above a finite fraction of the system is frozen. In
turn, this finite jump in the density of frozen sites leads to a two step
relaxation for dynamic correlations in the unjammed phase, analogous to that of
glass forming liquids. Also, due to the faster than power law divergence of the
dynamical correlation length, relaxation times diverge in a way similar to the
Vogel-Fulcher law.Comment: Submitted to the special issue of Journal of Statistical Physics on
Spin glasses and related topic
Negative emotional stimuli reduce contextual cueing but not response times in inefficient search
In visual search, previous work has shown that negative stimuli narrow the focus of attention and speed reaction times (RTs). This paper investigates these two effects by first asking whether negative emotional stimuli narrow the focus of attention to reduce the learning of a display context in a contextual cueing task and, second, whether exposure to negative stimuli also reduces RTs in inefficient search tasks. In Experiment 1, participants viewed either negative or neutral images (faces or scenes) prior to a contextual cueing task. In a typical contextual cueing experiment, RTs are reduced if displays are repeated across the experiment compared with novel displays that are not repeated. The results showed that a smaller contextual cueing effect was obtained after participants viewed negative stimuli than when they viewed neutral stimuli. However, in contrast to previous work, overall search RTs were not faster after viewing negative stimuli (Experiments 2 to 4). The findings are discussed in terms of the impact of emotional content on visual processing and the ability to use scene context to help facilitate search
- …