133 research outputs found
Critical behaviour of the Rouse model for gelling polymers
It is shown that the traditionally accepted "Rouse values" for the critical
exponents at the gelation transition do not arise from the Rouse model for
gelling polymers. The true critical behaviour of the Rouse model for gelling
polymers is obtained from spectral properties of the connectivity matrix of the
fractal clusters that are formed by the molecules. The required spectral
properties are related to the return probability of a "blind ant"-random walk
on the critical percolating cluster. The resulting scaling relations express
the critical exponents of the shear-stress-relaxation function, and hence those
of the shear viscosity and of the first normal stress coefficient, in terms of
the spectral dimension of the critical percolating cluster and the
exponents and of the cluster-size distribution.Comment: 9 pages, slightly extended version, to appear in J. Phys.
HOPS 361-C's Jet Decelerating and Precessing Through NGC 2071 IR
We present a two-epoch Hubble Space Telescope (HST) near-infrared (NIR) study
of NGC 2071 IR highlighting HOPS 361-C, a protostar producing an arced 0.2
parsec-scale jet. Proper motions for the brightest knots decrease from 350 to
100 km/s with increasing distance from the source. The [Fe II] and Pa
emission line intensity ratio gives a velocity jump through each knot of 40-50
km/s. We show a new [O I] 63 m spectrum taken with the German REciever
for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies (GREAT) instrument aboard Stratospheric
Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which give a low jet inclination.
Proper motions and jump velocities then estimate total flow speed throughout
the jet.
We model knot positions and speeds with a precessing jet that decelerates
within the host molecular cloud. The measurements are matched with a precession
period of a few thousand years and half opening angle of 15. The [Fe
II] 1.26 m to 1.64 m line intensity ratio gives the
extinction to each knot ranging from 5-30 mag. Relative to 14 mag of
extinction through the cloud from CO emission maps, the jet is well
embedded at a fractional depth from 1/5 to 4/5, and can interact with the
cloud. Our model suggests the jet is locally dissipated over 0.2 pc. This may
be because knots sweep through a wide angle, giving the cloud time to fill in
cavities opened by the jet. This contrasts with nearly unidirectional
protostellar jets that puncture host clouds and can propagate significantly
further than a quarter pc.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Ap
RAFT polymerization of temperature- and salt-responsive block copolymers as reversible hydrogels
Reversible-addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization enabled the synthesis of novel, stimuli-responsive, AB and ABA block copolymers. The B block contained oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (OEG) and was permanently hydrophilic in the conditions examined. The A block consisted of diethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate (DEG) and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride (TMA). The A block displayed both salt- and temperature-response with lower critical solution temperatures (LCSTs) dependent on the molar content of TMA and the presence of salt. Higher TMA content in the AB diblock copolymers increased the critical micelle temperatures (CMT) in HPLC-grade water due to an increased hydrophilicity of the A block. Upon addition of 0.9 wt% NaCl, the CMTs of poly(OEG-b-DEG95TMA5) decreased from 50 °C to 36 °C due to screening of electrostatic repulsion between the TMA units. ABA triblock copolymers displayed excellent hydrogel properties with salt- and temperature-dependent gel points. TMA incorporation in the A block increased the gel points for all triblock copolymers, and salt-response increased with higher TMA composition in the A block. For example, poly(DEG98TMA2-b-OEG-b-DEG98TMA2) formed a hydrogel at 40 °C in HPLC-grade water and 26 °C in 0.9 wt% NaCl aqueous solution. These salt- and temperature-responsive AB diblock and ABA triblock copolymers find applications as drug delivery vehicles, adhesives, and hydrogels
Variational bounds for the shear viscosity of gelling melts
We study shear stress relaxation for a gelling melt of randomly crosslinked,
interacting monomers. We derive a lower bound for the static shear viscosity
, which implies that it diverges algebraically with a critical exponent
. Here, and are the critical exponents of
percolation theory for the correlation length and the gel fraction. In
particular, the divergence is stronger than in the Rouse model, proving the
relevance of excluded-volume interactions for the dynamic critical behaviour at
the gel transition. Precisely at the critical point, our exact results imply a
Mark-Houwink relation for the shear viscosity of isolated clusters of fixed
size.Comment: 5 pages; CHANGES: typos corrected, some references added; version as
publishe
Probing the Inner Disk Emission of the Herbig Ae Stars HD 163296 and HD 190073
The physical processes occurring within the inner few astronomical units of
proto-planetary disks surrounding Herbig Ae stars are crucial to setting the
environment in which the outer planet-forming disk evolves and put critical
constraints on the processes of accretion and planet migration. We present the
most complete published sample of high angular resolution H- and K-band
observations of the stars HD 163296 and HD 190073, including 30 previously
unpublished nights of observations of the former and 45 nights of the latter
with the CHARA long-baseline interferometer, in addition to archival VLTI data.
We confirm previous observations suggesting significant near-infrared emission
originates within the putative dust evaporation front of HD 163296 and show
this is the case for HD 190073 as well. The H- and K-band sizes are the same
within for HD 163296 and within for HD 190073. The
radial surface brightness profiles for both disks are remarkably Gaussian-like
with little or no sign of the sharp edge expected for a dust evaporation front.
Coupled with spectral energy distribution analysis, our direct measurements of
the stellar flux component at H and K bands suggest that HD 190073 is much
younger (<400 kyr) and more massive (~5.6 M) than previously thought,
mainly as a consequence of the new Gaia distance (891 pc).Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure
Dynamics of gelling liquids: a short survey
The dynamics of randomly crosslinked liquids is addressed via a Rouse- and a
Zimm-type model with crosslink statistics taken either from bond percolation or
Erdoes-Renyi random graphs. While the Rouse-type model isolates the effects of
the random connectivity on the dynamics of molecular clusters, the Zimm-type
model also accounts for hydrodynamic interactions on a preaveraged level. The
incoherent intermediate scattering function is computed in thermal equilibrium,
its critical behaviour near the sol-gel transition is analysed and related to
the scaling of cluster diffusion constants at the critical point. Second,
non-equilibrium dynamics is studied by looking at stress relaxation in a simple
shear flow. Anomalous stress relaxation and critical rheological properties are
derived. Some of the results contradict long-standing scaling arguments, which
are shown to be flawed by inconsistencies.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures; Dedicated to Lothar Schaefer on the occasion of
his 60th birthday; Changes: added comments on the gel phase and some
reference
Shear viscosity of a crosslinked polymer melt
We investigate the static shear viscosity on the sol side of the
vulcanization transition within a minimal mesoscopic model for the
Rouse-dynamics of a randomly crosslinked melt of phantom polymers. We derive an
exact relation between the viscosity and the resistances measured in a
corresponding random resistor network. This enables us to calculate the
viscosity exactly for an ensemble of crosslinks without correlations. The
viscosity diverges logarithmically as the critical point is approached. For a
more realistic ensemble of crosslinks amenable to the scaling description of
percolation, we prove the scaling relation between the critical
exponent of the viscosity, the thermal exponent associated with the
gel fraction and the crossover exponent of a random resistor network.Comment: 8 pages, uses Europhysics Letters style; Revisions: results extende
Critical Dynamics of Gelation
Shear relaxation and dynamic density fluctuations are studied within a Rouse
model, generalized to include the effects of permanent random crosslinks. We
derive an exact correspondence between the static shear viscosity and the
resistance of a random resistor network. This relation allows us to compute the
static shear viscosity exactly for uncorrelated crosslinks. For more general
percolation models, which are amenable to a scaling description, it yields the
scaling relation for the critical exponent of the shear
viscosity. Here is the thermal exponent for the gel fraction and
is the crossover exponent of the resistor network. The results on the shear
viscosity are also used in deriving upper and lower bounds on the incoherent
scattering function in the long-time limit, thereby corroborating previous
results.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures (revtex, amssymb); revised version (minor
changes
- …