370 research outputs found
The Glass Transition in Driven Granular Fluids: A Mode-Coupling Approach
We consider the stationary state of a fluid comprised of inelastic hard
spheres or disks under the influence of a random, momentum-conserving external
force. Starting from the microscopic description of the dynamics, we derive a
nonlinear equation of motion for the coherent scattering function in two and
three space dimensions. A glass transition is observed for all coefficients of
restitution, epsilon, at a critical packing fraction, phi_c(epsilon), below
random close packing. The divergence of timescales at the glass-transition
implies a dependence on compression rate upon further increase of the density -
similar to the cooling rate dependence of a thermal glass. The critical
dynamics for coherent motion as well as tagged particle dynamics is analyzed
and shown to be non-universal with exponents depending on space dimension and
degree of dissipation.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figure
Energy Landscape and Overlap Distribution of Binary Lennard-Jones Glasses
We study the distribution of overlaps of glassy minima, taking proper care of
residual symmetries of the system. Ensembles of locally stable, low lying
glassy states are efficiently generated by rapid cooling from the liquid phase
which has been equilibrated at a temperature . Varying , we
observe a transition from a regime where a broad range of states are sampled to
a regime where the system is almost always trapped in a metastable glassy
state. We do not observe any structure in the distribution of overlaps of
glassy minima, but find only very weak correlations, comparable in size to
those of two liquid configurations.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, uses europhys-style. Minor notational changes,
typos correcte
Partitioning of energy in highly polydisperse granular gases
A highly polydisperse granular gas is modeled by a continuous distribution of
particle sizes, a, giving rise to a corresponding continuous temperature
profile, T(a), which we compute approximately, generalizing previous results
for binary or multicomponent mixtures. If the system is driven, it evolves
towards a stationary temperature profile, which is discussed for several
driving mechanisms in dependence on the variance of the size distribution. For
a uniform distribution of sizes, the stationary temperature profile is
nonuniform with either hot small particles (constant force driving) or hot
large particles (constant velocity or constant energy driving). Polydispersity
always gives rise to non-Gaussian velocity distributions. Depending on the
driving mechanism the tails can be either overpopulated or underpopulated as
compared to the molecular gas. The deviations are mainly due to small
particles. In the case of free cooling the decay rate depends continuously on
particle size, while all partial temperatures decay according to Haff's law.
The analytical results are supported by event driven simulations for a large,
but discrete number of species.Comment: 10 pages; 5 figure
Glassy correlations and microstructures in randomly crosslinked homopolymer blends
We consider a microscopic model of a polymer blend that is prone to phase
separation. Permanent crosslinks are introduced between randomly chosen pairs
of monomers, drawn from the Deam-Edwards distribution. Thereby, not only
density but also concentration fluctuations of the melt are quenched-in in the
gel state, which emerges upon sufficient crosslinking. We derive a Landau
expansion in terms of the order parameters for gelation and phase separation,
and analyze it on the mean-field level, including Gaussian fluctuations. The
mixed gel is characterized by thermal as well as time-persistent (glassy)
concentration fluctuations. Whereas the former are independent of the
preparation state, the latter reflect the concentration fluctuations at the
instant of crosslinking, provided the mesh size is smaller than the correlation
length of phase separation. The mixed gel becomes unstable to microphase
separation upon lowering the temperature in the gel phase. Whereas the length
scale of microphase separation is given by the mesh size, at least close to the
transition, the emergent microstructure depends on the composition and
compressibility of the melt. Hexagonal structures, as well as lamellae or
random structures with a unique wavelength, can be energetically favorable.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to the Journal of Chemical Physics
(http://jcp.aip.org
Molekular zielgerichtete Therapie
Zusammenfassung: Bis vor knapp 10Jahren stützte sich die Tumortherapie auf 3Säulen: die Chirurgie, die Strahlentherapie und die zytostatische Chemotherapie. Eine definitive Heilung im Bereich der soliden Tumoren versprach meist nur eine vollständige Entfernung des Tumors durch den Chirurgen. Radiotherapeuten und Onkologen konnten nur einem kleinen Teil ihrer Patienten langfristig helfen. Antikörpertherapien, Antitumorvakzinierungen oder gar genspezifische, individualisierte Therapieformen existierten zwar als Visionen, diese schienen Mitte der 90er-Jahre von einer klinischer Anwendung noch weit entfernt. Mit der Einführung des Antikörpers Rituximab (1997) und des Tyrosinkinaseinhibitors Imatinib (2001) in die klinische Praxis kamen 2 neuartige Substanzen auf den Markt, die Denken und Vorstellungen in der Onkologie grundsätzlich veränderten. Diese Therapeutika ließen aus Visionen Realitäten werden, die der Pharmaindustrie, den Klinikern und Patienten neue Perspektiven bezüglich Machbarkeit und kommender Möglichkeiten im Bereich der Tumortherapie eröffnet haben. Im Folgenden soll ein Überblick über die Entwicklung der 4.Säule der Tumortherapie, der sog. "targeted therapy", gegeben werde
Elasticity of highly cross-linked random networks
Starting from a microscopic model of randomly cross-linked particles with
quenched disorder, we calculate the Laudau-Wilson free energy S for arbitrary
cross-link densities. Considering pure shear deformations, S takes the form of
the elastic energy of an isotropic amorphous solid state, from which the shear
modulus can be identified. It is found to be an universal quantity, not
depending on any microscopic length-scales of the model.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Glassy states and microphase separation in cross-linked homopolymer blends
The physical properties of blends of distinct homopolymers, cross-linked
beyond the gelation point, are addressed via a Landau approach involving a pair
of coupled order-parameter fields: one describing vulcanisation, the other
describing local phase separation. Thermal concentration fluctuations, present
at the time of cross-linking, are frozen in by cross-linking, and the structure
of the resulting glassy fluctuations is analysed at the Gaussian level in
various regimes, determined by the relative values of certain physical
length-scales. The enhancement, due to gelation, of the stability of the blend
with respect to demixing is also analysed. Beyond the corresponding stability
limit, gelation prevents complete demixing, replacing it by microphase
separation, which occurs up to a length-scale set by the rigidity of the
network, as a simple variational scheme reveals.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Three-phase coexistence with sequence partitioning in symmetric random block copolymers
We inquire about the possible coexistence of macroscopic and microstructured
phases in random Q-block copolymers built of incompatible monomer types A and B
with equal average concentrations. In our microscopic model, one block
comprises M identical monomers. The block-type sequence distribution is
Markovian and characterized by the correlation \lambda. Upon increasing the
incompatibility \chi\ (by decreasing temperature) in the disordered state, the
known ordered phases form: for \lambda\ > \lambda_c, two coexisting macroscopic
A- and B-rich phases, for \lambda\ < \lambda_c, a microstructured (lamellar)
phase with wave number k(\lambda). In addition, we find a fourth region in the
\lambda-\chi\ plane where these three phases coexist, with different,
non-Markovian sequence distributions (fractionation). Fractionation is revealed
by our analytically derived multiphase free energy, which explicitly accounts
for the exchange of individual sequences between the coexisting phases. The
three-phase region is reached, either, from the macroscopic phases, via a third
lamellar phase that is rich in alternating sequences, or, starting from the
lamellar state, via two additional homogeneous, homopolymer-enriched phases.
These incipient phases emerge with zero volume fraction. The four regions of
the phase diagram meet in a multicritical point (\lambda_c, \chi_c), at which
A-B segregation vanishes. The analytical method, which for the lamellar phase
assumes weak segregation, thus proves reliable particularly in the vicinity of
(\lambda_c, \chi_c). For random triblock copolymers, Q=3, we find the character
of this point and the critical exponents to change substantially with the
number M of monomers per block. The results for Q=3 in the continuous-chain
limit M -> \infty are compared to numerical self-consistent field theory
(SCFT), which is accurate at larger segregation.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures, version published in PRE, main changes: Sec.
IIIA, Fig. 14, Discussio
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