The effect of asymmetry of the coil block on self-assembly in ABC coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers

Using the self-consistent field approach, the effect of asymmetry of the coil block on the microphase separation is focused in ABC coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers. For different fractions of the rod block $f_{\text B}$, some stable structures are observed, i.e., lamellae, cylinders, gyroid, and core-shell hexagonal lattice, and the phase diagrams are constructed. The calculated results show that the effect of the coil block fraction $f_{\text A}$ is dependent on $f_{\text B}$. When $f_{\text B}=0.2$, the effect of asymmetry of the coil block is similar to that of the ABC flexible triblock copolymers; When $f_{\text B}=0.4$, the self-assembly of ABC coil-rod-coil triblock copolymers behaves like rod-coil diblock copolymers under some condition. When $f_{\text B}$ continues to increase, the effect of asymmetry of the coil block reduces. For $f_{\text B}=0.4$, under the symmetrical and rather asymmetrical conditions, an increase in the interaction parameter between different components leads to different transitions between cylinders and lamellae. The results indicate some remarkable effect of the chain architecture on self-assembly, and can provide the guidance for the design and synthesis of copolymer materials.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Matter loops corrected modified gravity in Palatini formulation

Recently, corrections to the standard Einstein-Hilbert action are proposed to explain the current cosmic acceleration in stead of introducing dark energy. In the Palatini formulation of those modified gravity models, there is an important observation due to Arkani-Hamed: matter loops will give rise to a correction to the modified gravity action proportional to the Ricci scalar of the metric. In the presence of such term, we show that the current forms of modified gravity models in Palatini formulation, specifically, the 1/R gravity and $\ln R$ gravity, will have phantoms. Then we study the possible instabilities due to the presence of phantom fields. We show that the strong instability in the metric formulation of 1/R gravity indicated by Dolgov and Kawasaki will not appear and the decay timescales for the phantom fields may be long enough for the theories to make sense as effective field theory . On the other hand, if we change the sign of the modification terms to eliminate the phantoms, some other inconsistencies will arise for the various versions of the modified gravity models. Finally, we comment on the universal property of the Palatini formulation of the matter loops corrected modified gravity models and its implications.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figures, References adde

Thin Solid Electrolyte Layers Enabled by Nanoscopic Polymer Binding

To achieve high-energy all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), solid-state electrolytes (SE) must be thin, mechanically robust, and possess the ability to form low resistance interfaces with electrode materials. Embedding an inorganic SE into an organic polymer combines the merits of high conductivity and flexibility. However, the performance of such an SE-in-polymer matrix (SEPM) is highly dependent on the microstructure and interactions between the organic and inorganic components. We report on the synthesis of a free-standing, ultrathin (60 μm) SEPM from a solution of lithium polysulfide, phosphorus sulfide, and ethylene sulfide (ES), where the polysulfide triggers the in situ polymerization of ES and the formation of Li3PS4. Reactant ratios were optimized to achieve a room-temperature conductivity of 2 × 10-5 S cm-1. Cryogenic electron microscopy confirmed a uniform nanoscopic distribution of β-Li3PS4 and PES (polyethylene sulfide). This work presents a facile route to the scalable fabrication of ASSBs with promising cycling performance and low electrolyte loading

Low-lying states in 30^{30}Mg: a beyond relativistic mean-field investigation

The recently developed model of three-dimensional angular momentum projection plus generator coordinate method on top of triaxial relativistic mean-field states has been applied to study the low-lying states of $^{30}$Mg. The effects of triaxiality on the low-energy spectra and E0 and E2 transitions are examined.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, talk presented at the 17th nuclear physics conference "Marie and Pierre Curie" Kazimierz Dolny, 22-26th September 2010, Polan

Mean-field embedding of the dual fermion approach for correlated electron systems

To reduce the rapidly growing computational cost of the dual fermion lattice calculation with increasing system size, we introduce two embedding schemes. One is the real fermion embedding, and the other is the dual fermion embedding. Our numerical tests show that the real fermion and dual fermion embedding approaches converge to essentially the same result. The application on the Anderson disorder and Hubbard models shows that these embedding algorithms converge more quickly with system size as compared to the conventional dual fermion method, for the calculation of both single-particle and two-particle quantities.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figure

Do ESOPs enhance firm performance? Evidence from China's reform experiment

China introduced employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in 1992 purely as an employee incentive scheme. The government initiated the policy experiment on ESOPs as part of China's reform of its state-owned enterprises, and it was abruptly terminated 2. years after initiation. This policy experiment resulted in an exogenous sample of ESOPs that allows us to provide the first evidence from Chinese firms on the performance-ESOP relation. After examining a variety of performance measures, including ROA, ROE, Tobin's q, and productivity, we find little difference in performance between ESOP firms and non-ESOP firms. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.postprin

Dual Fermion Method for Disordered Electronic Systems

While the coherent potential approximation (CPA) is the prevalent method for the study of disordered electronic systems, it fails to capture non-local correlations and Anderson localization. To incorporate such effects, we extend the dual fermion approach to disordered non-interacting systems using the replica method. Results for single- and two- particle quantities show good agreement with cluster extensions of the CPA; moreover, weak localization is captured. As a natural extension of the CPA, our method presents an alternative to the existing cluster theories. It can be used in various applications, including the study of disordered interacting systems, or for the description of non-local effects in electronic structure calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure