Structural arrest in dense star-polymer solutions.
The dynamics of star polymers is investigated via extensive molecular and Brownian dynamics simulations for a large range of functionality f and packing fraction eta. The calculated isodiffusivity curves display both minima and maxima as a function of eta and minima as a function of f. Simulation results are compared with theoretical predictions based on different approximations for the structure factor. In particular, the ideal glass transition line predicted by mode-coupling theory is shown to exactly track the isodiffusivity curves, offering a theoretical understanding for the observation of disordered arrested states in star-polymer solutions.
Foffi
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Dipartimento di Fisica and INFM Center for Statistical Mechanics and Complexity, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, I-00185 Rome, Italy.
Sciortino
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Tartaglia
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Zaccarelli
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Lo Verso
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Reatto
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Dawson
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Likos
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