Water-assisted mechanical testing of polymeric thin-films

Thin films with a nanometer-scale thickness are of great interest to both scientific and industrial communities due to their numerous applications and unique behaviors different from the bulk. However, the understanding of thin-film mechanics is still greatly hampered due to their intrinsic fragility and the lack of commercially available experimental instruments. In this review, we first discuss the progression of thin-film mechanical testing methods based on the supporting substrate: film-on-solid substrate method, film-on-water tensile tests, and water-assisted free-standing tensile tests. By comparing past studies on a model polymer, polystyrene, the effect of different substrates and confinement effect on the thin-film mechanics is evaluated. These techniques have generated fruitful scientific knowledge in the field of organic semiconductors for the understanding of structure–mechanical property relationships. We end this review by providing our perspective for their bright prospects in much broader applications and materials of interest.     

Controlling effective interactions and spatial dispersion of nanoparticles in multiblock copolymer melts

The microscopic Polymer Reference Interaction Site Model theory is employed to study, for the first time, the effective interactions, spatial organization, and miscibility of dilute spherical nanoparticles in non‐microphase separating, chemically heterogeneous, compositionally symmetric AB multiblock copolymer melts of varying monomer sequence or architecture. The dependence of nanoparticle wettability on copolymer sequence and chemistry results in interparticle potentials‐of‐mean force that are qualitatively different from homopolymers. An important prediction is the ability to improve nanoparticle dispersion via judicious choice of block length and monomer adsorption‐strengths which control both local surface segregation and chain connectivity induced packing constraints and frustration. The degree of dispersion also depends strongly on nanoparticle diameter relative to the block contour length. Small particles in copolymers with longer block lengths experience a more homopolymer‐like environment which renders them relatively insensitive to copolymer chemical heterogeneity and hinders dispersion. Larger particles (sufficiently larger than the monomer diameter) in copolymers of relatively short block lengths provide better dispersion than either a homopolymer or random copolymer. The theory also predicts a novel widening of the miscibility window for large particles upon increasing the overall molecular weight of copolymers composed of relatively long blocks. The influence of a positive chi‐parameter in the pure copolymer melt is briefly studied. Quantitative application to fullerenes in specific copolymers of experimental interest is performed, and miscibility predictions are made. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 1098–1111     

Springer basic sets and modular Springer correspondence for classical types

We define the notion of basic set data for finite groups (building on the notion of basic set, but including an order on the irreducible characters as part of the structure), and we prove that the Springer correspondence provides basic set data for Weyl groups. Then we use this to determine explicitly the modular Springer correspondence for classical types (defined over a base field of odd characteristic $p$, and with coefficients in a field of odd characteristic $?\ne p$): the modular case is obtained as a restriction of the ordinary case to a basic set. In order to do so, we compare the order on bipartitions introduced by Dipper and James with the order induced by the Springer correspondence. We provide a quick proof, by sorting characters according to the dimension of the corresponding Springer fibre, an invariant which is directly computable from symbols.     

一种新的岩石非线性黏弹塑性蠕变模型研究

为了克服传统元件组合模型不能描述岩石蠕变过程中非线性特征的缺陷，首先根据加速蠕变阶段的应变和应变率随蠕变时间急剧增大的特点，建立黏塑性应变与蠕变时间的指数函数关系并提出非线性黏塑性体．将该非线性黏塑性体与广义Burgers蠕变模型串联，建立可以描述岩石全蠕变过程的非线性黏弹塑性蠕变模型，根据叠加原理得到一维应力状态下的轴向蠕变方程．然后基于塑性力学理论指出岩石三维蠕变本构方程建立过程中的不足之处，并给出非线性黏弹塑性蠕变模型合理的三维蠕变方程．最后采用不同应力水平下砂岩轴向蠕变试验对模型合理性进行验证，结果表明：拟合曲线与试验曲线吻合度较高，所建蠕变模型能够很好地描述砂岩在不同应力水平下的蠕变变形规律，尤其对加速蠕变阶段的非线性特征描述效果很好，验证了模型的合理性．     

A new study of associating inhomogeneous fluids with classical density functional theory

ABSTRACT

A new density functional for the study of associating inhomogeneous fluids based on Wertheim's first-order thermodynamic perturbation theory is presented and compared to the most currently used associating density functionals. This functional is developed using the weighted density approximation in the range of association of hard spheres. We implement this functional within the framework of classical density functional theory together with modified fundamental measure theory to account for volume exclusion of hard spheres. This approach is tested against molecular simulations from literature of pure associating hard spheres and mixtures of non-associationg and associating hard spheres with different number of bonding sites close to a hard uniform wall. Furthermore, we compare and review our results with the performance of associating functionals from literature, one based on fundamental measure theory and the inhomogeneous version of Wertheim's perturbation theory. Results obtained with classical DFT and the three functionals show excellent agreement with molecular simulations in systems with one hard wall. For the cases of small pores where only one or two layers of fluid are allowed discrepancies between results with classical DFT and molecular simulations were found.     

固体力学有限元体系的结构拓扑变化理论

本文是文[1]的继续.文[1]提出了杆件系统的结构拓扑变化理论和拓扑变化法本文将这一理论和方法推进到连续体有限元体系;且在此基础上揭示出有限元体系的一个新性质,称为基本位移之梯度的正交性定理,从而给出一套设计敏度的显式表达式,可直接用于计算.     

静态球对称黑洞Dirac场的统计熵

利用改进的brickwall模型,给出了一类静态球对称黑洞Dirac场的熵,结果表明,在取相同的截断因子时,Dirac场的熵均为标量场的熵的72倍 关键词： 黑洞 统计熵 brickwall模型 Dirac场     

双色激光场中1维共线氢分子离子的经典动力学研究

 运用经典理论方法，并采用辛算法数值求解了双色激光场作用下1维共线氢分子离子(H₂⁺)的哈密顿正则方程，得到了氢分子离子在激光场下的经典轨迹。计算了单色场和双色场下氢分子离子(H₂⁺)的存活几率、电离几率、解离几率、库仑爆炸几率随时间的演化，分析了双色场的相位、强度、强度比及倍频的变化对氢分子离子动力学行为的影响,并给出了相应的物理解释。     

TOF-SIMS imaging of chlorhexidine-digluconate transport in frozen hydrated biofilms of the fungus Candida albicans

The diffusion of the anti-microbial chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG) has been studied in C. albicans biofilms by time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). C. albicans has been shown to become resistant to common anti-microbial agents, including CHG, when growing as a biofilm. Mass transport resistance within biofilms has commonly been suggested as a resistance mechanism, but measurement of transport for most anti-microbial agents in biofilms has proven extremely difficult because of the heterogeneity of the biofilms and the difficulty in detecting these agents within an intact biofilm. In this study, TOF-SIMS has been used to study the transport of CHG and glucose in a frozen hydrated biofilm. The TOF-SIMS images reveal a progression of CHG from the top of the biofilm to its base with time. Images suggest that there are channels within the biofilm and show preferential binding of CHG to cellular components of the biofilm. Additionally, both living and dead cells can be identified in the TOF-SIMS images by the sequestration of K⁺ and the presence of cell markers. This study demonstrates that TOF-SIMS has the unique potential to simultaneously observe the presence of an antimicrobial agent, concentration of nutrients, and the viability of the cell population.     

Projective geometry and special relativity

Some concepts of real and complex projective geometry are applied to the fundamental physical notions that relate to Minkowski space and the Lorentz group. In particular, it is shown that the transition from an infinite speed of propagation for light waves to a finite one entails the replacement of a hyperplane at infinity with a light cone and the replacement of an affine hyperplane – or rest space – with a proper time hyperboloid. The transition from the metric theory of electromagnetism to the pre‐metric theory is discussed in the context of complex projective geometry, and ultimately, it is proposed that the geometrical issues are more general than electromagnetism, namely, they pertain to the transition from point mechanics to wave mechanics.