3,318 research outputs found
Self-similar chain conformations in polymer gels
We use molecular dynamics simulations to study the swelling of randomly
end-cross-linked polymer networks in good solvent conditions. We find that the
equilibrium degree of swelling saturates at Q_eq = N_e**(3/5) for mean strand
lengths N_s exceeding the melt entanglement length N_e. The internal structure
of the network strands in the swollen state is characterized by a new exponent
nu=0.72. Our findings are in contradiction to de Gennes' c*-theorem, which
predicts Q_eq proportional N_s**(4/5) and nu=0.588. We present a simple Flory
argument for a self-similar structure of mutually interpenetrating network
strands, which yields nu=7/10 and otherwise recovers the classical Flory-Rehner
theory. In particular, Q_eq = N_e**(3/5), if N_e is used as effective strand
length.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 3 Figure
Dark Sector from Interacting Canonical and Non-Canonical Scalar Fields
In this work it is investigated general models with interactions between two
canonical scalar fields and between one non-canonical (tachyon-type) and one
canonical scalar field. The potentials and couplings to the gravity are
selected through the Noether symmetry approach. These general models are
employed to describe interactions between dark energy and dark matter, with the
fields being constrained by the astronomical data. The cosmological solutions
of some cases are compared with the observed evolution of the late Universe.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, correction of misprints in eqs. (4), (5), (43),
(44
Static and dynamic properties of large polymer melts in equilibrium
We present a detailed study of the static and dynamic behavior of long
semiflexible polymer chains in a melt. Starting from previously obtained fully
equilibrated high molecular weight polymer melts [{\it Zhang et al.} ACS Macro
Lett. 3, 198 (2014)] we investigate their static and dynamic scaling behavior
as predicted by theory. We find that for semiflexible chains in a melt, results
of the mean square internal distance, the probability distributions of the
end-to-end distance, and the chain structure factor are well described by
theoretical predictions for ideal chains. We examine the motion of monomers and
chains by molecular dynamics simulations using the ESPResSo++ package. The
scaling predictions of the mean squared displacement of inner monomers, center
of mass, and relations between them based on the Rouse and the reptation theory
are verified, and related characteristic relaxation times are determined.
Finally we give evidence that the entanglement length as determined
by a primitive path analysis (PPA) predicts a plateau modulus,
, consistent with stresses obtained from the
Green-Kubo relation. These comprehensively characterized equilibrium
structures, which offer a good compromise between flexibility, small ,
computational efficiency, and small deviations from ideality provide ideal
starting states for future non-equilibrium studies.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, to be published in J. Chem. Phys. (2016
Individual Entanglements in a Simulated Polymer Melt
We examine entanglements using monomer contacts between pairs of chains in a
Brownian-dynamics simulation of a polymer melt. A map of contact positions with
respect to the contacting monomer numbers (i,j) shows clustering in small
regions of (i,j) which persists in time, as expected for entanglements. Using
the ``space''-time correlation function of the aforementioned contacts, we show
that a pair of entangled chains exhibits a qualitatively different behavior
than a pair of distant chains when brought together. Quantitatively, about 50%
of the contacts between entangled chains are persistent contacts not present in
independently moving chains. In addition, we account for several observed
scaling properties of the contact correlation function.Comment: latex, 12 pages, 7 figures, postscript file available at
http://arnold.uchicago.edu/~ebn
Two-Dimensional Polymers with Random Short-Range Interactions
We use complete enumeration and Monte Carlo techniques to study
two-dimensional self-avoiding polymer chains with quenched ``charges'' .
The interaction of charges at neighboring lattice sites is described by . We find that a polymer undergoes a collapse transition at a temperature
, which decreases with increasing imbalance between charges. At the
transition point, the dependence of the radius of gyration of the polymer on
the number of monomers is characterized by an exponent , which is slightly larger than the similar exponent for homopolymers. We
find no evidence of freezing at low temperatures.Comment: 4 two-column pages, 6 eps figures, RevTex, Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Le Chatelier-Braun principle in cosmological physics
Assuming that dark energy may be treated as a fluid with a well defined
temperature, close to equilibrium, we argue that if nowadays there is a
transfer of energy between dark energy and dark matter, it must be such that
the latter gains energy from the former and not the other way around.Comment: 6 pages, revtex file, no figures; version accepted for publication in
General Relativity and Gravitatio
Extended hydrodynamics from Enskog's equation for a two-dimensional system general formalism
Balance equations are derived from Enskog's kinetic equation for a
two-dimensional system of hard disks using Grad's moment expansion method. This
set of equations constitute an extended hydrodynamics for moderately dense
bi-dimensional fluids. The set of independent hydrodynamic fields in the
present formulations are: density, velocity, temperature {\em and
also}--following Grad's original idea--the symmetric and traceless pressure
tensor and the heat flux vector . An approximation
scheme similar in spirit to one made by Grad in his original work is made. Once
the hydrodynamics is derived it is used to discuss the nature of a simple
one-dimensional heat conduction problem. It is shown that, not too far from
equilibrium, the nonequilibrium pressure in this case only depends on the
density, temperature and heat flux vector.Comment: :9 pages, 1 figure, This will appear in J. Stat. Phys. with minor
corrections and corresponds to Ref[9] of cond-mat/050710
Tensile Fracture of Welded Polymer Interfaces: Miscibility, Entanglements and Crazing
Large-scale molecular simulations are performed to investigate tensile
failure of polymer interfaces as a function of welding time . Changes in the
tensile stress, mode of failure and interfacial fracture energy are
correlated to changes in the interfacial entanglements as determined from
Primitive Path Analysis. Bulk polymers fail through craze formation, followed
by craze breakdown through chain scission. At small welded interfaces are
not strong enough to support craze formation and fail at small strains through
chain pullout at the interface. Once chains have formed an average of about one
entanglement across the interface, a stable craze is formed throughout the
sample. The failure stress of the craze rises with welding time and the mode of
craze breakdown changes from chain pullout to chain scission as the interface
approaches bulk strength. The interfacial fracture energy is calculated
by coupling the simulation results to a continuum fracture mechanics model. As
in experiment, increases as before saturating at the average
bulk fracture energy . As in previous simulations of shear strength,
saturation coincides with the recovery of the bulk entanglement density. Before
saturation, is proportional to the areal density of interfacial
entanglements. Immiscibiltiy limits interdiffusion and thus suppresses
entanglements at the interface. Even small degrees of immisciblity reduce
interfacial entanglements enough that failure occurs by chain pullout and
Topological interactions in systems of mutually interlinked polymer rings
The topological interaction arising in interlinked polymeric rings such as
DNA catenanes is considered. More specifically, the free energy for a pair of
linked random walk rings is derived where the distance between two segments
each of which is part of a different ring is kept constant. The topology
conservation is imposed by the Gauss invariant. A previous approach (M.Otto,
T.A. Vilgis, Phys.Rev.Lett. {\bf 80}, 881 (1998)) to the problem is refined in
several ways. It is confirmed, that asymptotically, i.e. for large
where is average size of single random walk ring, the effective
topological interaction (free energy) scales .Comment: 16 pages, 3 figur
Low temperature ellipsometry of NaV2O5
The dielectric function of alpha'NaV2O5 was measured with electric field
along the a and b axes in the photon energy range 0.8-4.5 eV for temperatures
down to 4K. We observe a pronounced decrease of the intensity of the 1 eV peak
upon increasing temperature with an activation energy of about 25meV,
indicating that a finite fraction of the rungs becomes occupied with two
electrons while others are emptied as temperature increases. No appreciable
shifts of peaks were found s in the valence state of individual V atoms at the
phase transition is very small. A remarkable inflection of this temperature
dependence at the phase transition at 34 K indicates that charge ordering is
associated with the low temperature phase.Comment: Revisions in style and order of presentation. One new figure. In
press in Physical Review B. REVTeX, 4 pages with 4 postscript figure
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