Characterization of supercommuting matrices

For a given n-by-n matrix A, we consider the set of matrices which commute with A and all of whose principal submatrices commute with the corresponding principal submatrices of A. The properties of this set are examined, with particular attention to its dimension.     

The Effect of Volume Reorganization of Amorphous Poly(ethylene Terephthaiate) on Thermal Properties

When poly(ethylene terephthalate) was quenched from above T_g and then heated, it exhibited a step increase in thickness in the glass transition region at every rate tested. When the polymer was cooled more slowly than it was heated, a higher T_g and a slightly larger step increase in thickness were observed as the cooling rate was reduced. These experimental results appear to be adequately interpreted on the basis of the normal structural changes that occur in a glass as its thermal history is varied. Two observations, however, were not easily included in this view. First, the polymer, on cooling from above T_g, exhibited an abnormally high expansion coefficient over much of the range of temperature in which it exists as a fluid. Second, the polymer exhibited a step increase in thickness when it was heated at the same rate at which it had previously been cooled.     

Mode coupling and dynamical heterogeneity in colloidal gelation: a simulation study

We present simulation results addressing the dynamics of a colloidal system with attractive interactions close to gelation. Our interaction also has a soft, long-range repulsive barrier that suppresses liquid-gas type phase separation at long wavelengths. The new results presented here lend further weight to an intriguing picture emerging from our previous simulation work on the same system. Whereas mode coupling theory (MCT) offers quantitatively good results for the decay of correlators, closer inspection of the dynamics reveals a bimodal population of fast and slow particles with a very long exchange time scale. This population split represents a particular form of dynamic heterogeneity (DH). Although DH is usually associated with activated hopping and/or facilitated dynamics in glasses, the form of DH observed here may be more collective in character and associated with static (i.e., structural) heterogeneity.     

Transverse asymmetry AT' from the quasielastic 3He(e,e') process and the neutron magnetic form factor

We have measured the transverse asymmetry A(T') in 3He(e,e(')) quasielastic scattering in Hall A at Jefferson Laboratory with high precision for Q2 values from 0.1 to 0.6 (GeV/c)(2). The neutron magnetic form factor G(n)(M) was extracted based on Faddeev calculations for Q2 = 0.1 and 0.2 (GeV/c)(2) with an experimental uncertainty of less than 2%.     

The phase behavior of a polymer‐fullerene bulk heterojunction system that contains bimolecular crystals

Polymer:fullerene blends have been widely studied as an inexpensive alternative to traditional silicon solar cells. Some polymer:fullerene blends, such as blends of poly(2,5‐bis(3‐tetradecylthiophen‐2‐yl)thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene (pBTTT) with phenyl‐c71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM), form bimolecular crystals due to fullerene intercalation between the polymer side chains. Here we present the determination of the eutectic pBTTT:PC₇₁BM phase diagram using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and two‐dimensional grazing incidence X‐ray scattering (2D GIXS) with in‐situ thermal annealing. The phase diagram explains why the most efficient pBTTT:PC₇₁BM solar cells have 75–80 wt % PC₇₁BM since these blends lie in the center of the only room‐temperature phase region containing both electron‐conducting (PC₇₁BM) and hole‐conducting (bimolecular crystal) phases. We show that intercalation can be suppressed in 50:50 pBTTT:PC₇₁BM blends by using rapid thermal annealing to heat the blends above the eutectic temperature, which forces PC₇₁BM out of the bimolecular crystal, followed by quick cooling to kinetically trap the pure PC₇₁BM phase. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011