Mayer-sampling Monte Carlo calculations of uniquely flexible contributions to virial coefficients

We present methods for computing contributions to the virial coefficients uniquely associated with molecular flexibility, and we demonstrate their use with application to the third, fourth, and fifth virial coefficients of united-atom models of linear alkanes and methanol belonging to the suite of transferrable potentials for phase equilibria (TraPPE-UA). We find that these uniquely flexible contributions are more difficult to compute than the remainder of the coefficient, especially for the conditions at which they appear to be most important. The significance of these contributions relative to the full virial coefficient grows with the number of sites (the size of the molecule), the number of molecules, and, to a certain extent, the temperature. The nature of the site-site interactions is of great importance: the significance of the uniquely flexible contribution at third and fourth order is orders of magnitude larger for TraPPE-UA methanol, which has Coulombic interactions, than for TraPPE-UA propane, which does not, even though both models have three sites per molecule and comparable bending potentials. While the uniquely flexible contribution of TraPPE-UA propane has a negligible impact on its third-order virial-equation-of-state estimate of the critical point, the uniquely flexible contribution of TraPPE-UA methanol increases this estimate of its critical pressure by about 5%.     

Nonlinear optical properties of confined excitons in clusters

Size effects in femtosecond photon echo spectroscopy of neat clusters are calculated using a quasiparticle representation of the nonlinear response. We extend our previous study of cooperative effects on the nonlinear response of assemblies of two level molecules [J. A. Leegwater and S. Mukamel, Phys. Rev. A46, 452 (1992)] to allow for nuclear motion and to have an s-p model of polarizable atoms. Photon echos in Benzene/Argon clusters are calculated using a semiclassical phase averaging procedure [L. E. Fried and S. Mukamel, Adv. Chem. Phys. (in Press)].     

Increased glass transition temperature in motionally constrained semicrystalline polymers

A large number of experimental results in the literature support and illuminate a model of behavior of chains and chain segments in the amorphous phase of semicrystalline polymers connecting the elevation of the glass transition temperature (T_g) above its normal value to several kinds of motional restrictions imposed on the chains and parts thereof. Accordingly, polymer chain, chain-segment and chain-fragment motions of all kinds comprise one or more torsions around main-chain bonds from one stable conformation to another, known as rotational isomerizations. When impediments are placed in front of thermal fluctuations and larger transversal and longitudinal motions of polymer chains, segments and shorter fragments in the amorphous phase, and the motions are thus restricted, the glass transition temperature is elevated relative to that of the same amorphous phase in the bulk under normal conditions. The obstructions may prevent either the onset of rotational isomerizations or of their completion once started. The completion of the torsional isomerizations and larger motions may be prevented by eliminating the free spaces necessary to accommodate the volumes of the interconverting chain fragments and segments even when they move in concert, or by preventing the creation of such free spaces. Another way to hinder the completion of such motions is by the introduction into the system of many rigid walls and other interfaces with strong attractive interactions with the polymer, that by geometrical constraints and attractive interactions suppress the rotational and larger motions and prevent their completion. Elimination of the necessary free volume is achievable by the application of compressive pressure, while the introduction of rigid attractive walls may be accomplished by the incorporation of crystallites, as in semicrystalline polymers, or by the addition of rigid finely comminuted foreign additives with very large surface areas or confining voids with high tortuosity. It is believed that motional restrictions imposed on the amorphous phase by the growth faces of polymer crystallites, especially in oriented semicrystalline polymers, are more effective than the restrictions imposed by the fold surfaces of these crystallites. The prevention of the onset of rotational isomerizations and larger motions may be achieved by stretching the polymer chains and chain segments in the amorphous phase and, by one means or another, pinning down the taut chains such that essentially all their rotational isomers are in the trans conformation: they cannot interconvert to the gauche conformation since it requires the chain’s end-to-end distance to decrease. Parallel alignment of relatively taut chain-segments may impose additional geometrical restrictions on both the onset and completion of rotational isomeric torsions and, of course, on longer-range motions. In all cases, the T_g of the motionally constrained parts of the amorphous phase, especially in semicrystalline polymers, is expected to rise. It is likely that the characteristic length associated with transversal motions and their suppression is R_c, the spatial distance between entanglements, which is of the same size scale, and may be the same as the tube diameter of the reptation model. Special emphasis was placed in this work on the semicrystalline polymers poly (ϵ-caprolactam) (nylon-6) and poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET). © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The proton momentum distribution in strongly H-bonded phases of water: a critical test of electrostatic models

Water is often viewed as a collection of monomers interacting electrostatically with each other. We compare the water proton momentum distributions from recent neutron scattering data with those calculated from two electronic structure-based models. We find that below 500 K these electrostatic models, one based on a multipole expansion, which includes the polarizability of the monomers, are not able to even qualitatively account for the sizable vibrational zero-point contribution to the enthalpy of vaporization. This discrepancy is evidence that the change in the proton well upon solvation cannot be entirely explained by electrostatic effects alone, but requires correlations of the electronic states on the molecules involved in the hydrogen bonds to produce the observed softening of the well.     

N-H stretching modes of adenosine monomer in solution studied by ultrafast nonlinear infrared spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

The N-H stretching vibrations of adenine, one of the building blocks of DNA, are studied by combining infrared absorption and nonlinear two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy with ab initio calculations. We determine diagonal and off-diagonal anharmonicities of N-H stretching vibrations in chemically modified adenosine monomer dissolved in chloroform. For the single-quantum excitation manifold, the normal mode picture with symmetric and asymmetric NH(2) stretching vibrations is fully appropriate. For the two-quantum excitation manifold, however, the interplay between intermode coupling and frequency shifts due to a large diagonal anharmonicity leads to a situation where strong mixing does not occur. We compare our findings with previously reported values obtained on overtone spectroscopy of coupled hydrogen stretching oscillators.     

Trapping photon-dressed Dirac electrons in a quantum dot studied by coherent two dimensional photon echo spectroscopy

We study the localization of dressed Dirac electrons in a cylindrical quantum dot (QD) formed on monolayer and bilayer graphene by spatially different potential profiles. Short lived excitonic states which are too broad to be resolved in linear spectroscopy are revealed by cross peaks in the photon-echo nonlinear technique. Signatures of the dynamic gap in the two-dimensional spectra are discussed. The effect of the Coulomb induced exciton-exciton scattering and the formation of biexciton molecules are demonstrated.     

Reactions in the presence of organic phosphites,I: High temperature amidation in the absence of solvents

When reacted for periods of 5–10 min at temperatures of about 280–300°C in the presence of certain organic phosphites polymers that contain available carboxy and aliphatic amine groups undergo amidation. This reaction can increase the molecular weight of many aliphatic polyamides by their self-reaction in an extruder. Block or graft copolymers can be formed by reacting polymers that contain aliphatic amines with others that contain carboxyl. Studies of model compounds in the companion article (II) indicate that polymerization proceeds through an diaryloxy or dialkoxy amino phosphine intermediate to produce amide bonds and disubstituted phosphite reaction by-products. In the absence of primary amines in the reaction mixture an ester is slowly formed from the carboxyl end group of the polymer and the oxysubstituent of the phosphite. In no case was a phosphorus-containing mixed anhydride detected. The mechanistic identity of the low temperature reactions in article II and the high temperature reactions in this article has not been proved conclusively, however.     

An exact solution of a one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion model with open boundaries

A simple asymmetric exclusion model with open boundaries is solved exactly in one dimension. The exact solution is obtained by deriving a recursion relation for the steady state: if the steady state is known for all system sizes less thanN, then our equation (8) gives the steady state for sizeN. Using this recursion, we obtain closed expressions (48) for the average occupations of all sites. The results are compared to the predictions of a mean field theory. In particular, for infinitely large systems, the effect of the boundary decays as the distance to the power –1/2 instead of the inverse of the distance, as predicted by the mean field theory.     

Asymmetric exclusion model with two species: Spontaneous symmetry breaking

A simple two-species asymmetric exclusion model is introduced. It consists of two types of oppositely charged particles driven by an electric field and hopping on an open chain. The phase diagram of the model is calculated in the meanfield approximation and by Monte Carlo simulations. Exact solutions are given for special values of the parameters defining its dynamics. The model is found to exhibit two phases in which spontaneous symmetry breaking takes place, where the two currents of the two species are not equal.