THEORETICAL STUDIES ON ELASTICITY OF MICROEMULSIONS

微乳液、囊泡和细胞膜具有自组装 由表面活性剂分子构成的壁结构。 的理解 它们的弹性特性对于 了解一些生命过程和病理疾病， 微观层面。 然而，弹性性能远不是 从根本上被完全理解。 其中 微乳液的结构最简单， 因此是研究的理想选择。弹性信息关于 微乳液将对表征 赋予细胞结构生命 微乳液的弹性可以 通过测量其光电特性来推断 二重性本文还计算了这种晶体的光学双折射率的克尔系数。 （水/AOT/油）系统已在 费耶特维尔州立大学。实验数据显示， 缩放行为 没有任何现有的理论可以正确解释这些现象。 数据集体。 看来，一个相关的理论将不得不 结合了电场存在下多液滴相关性。 我们将：（1）使用二聚体模型来拟合实验数据， 探索高对齐的起源;（2）重新考虑基于数据的 对多液滴团簇结构的研究;（3）使用统计 耗尽力理论和蒙特卡罗模拟探讨 微乳液中的簇形成。 主要研究者 将与马修·爱德华兹博士密切合作，前者 在同一个子项目的实验，在斯佩尔曼学院，收到 进一步的实验数据，并向他提出建议 用于未来的实验。 对于这个子项目，与弹性有关 微乳液，学生学员将参与所有 研究活动的各个方面，包括计算机编程， 并拟合数据。 他们还将帮助准备和介绍 在论文和演讲中取得成果。

Microemulsions, vesicles and cell membranes have self-assembling wall structures made of surfactant molecules. The understanding of their elastic properties is particularly important for the understanding of some life processes and pathological diseases on the microscopic level. However, the elastic property is far from being completely understood in a fundamental way. Among these systems, microemulsions are the simplest in structure, and therefore, are ideal for research. The elastic information about microemulsions will have profound implications for characterizing animate cell structures. The elastic property of microemulsions can be inferred through the measurements of their Electro-Optical Bifringence. The Kerr coefficients of the optical bifringence of the (water/AOT/oil) system have been extensively measured at Fayetteville State University. The experimental data show a phi2 - scaling behavior. No existing theory could properly explain these data collectively. It appears that a relevant theory will have to incorporate many-droplet correlation in presence of an electric field. We will: (1) use a dimer model to fit the experimental data and explore the origin of high alignment; (2) reconsider the data based on the structure of multiple-droplet clusters; (3) use the statistical theory of depletion force and Monte Carlo simulation to explore cluster formation in microemulsions. The principal investigator will closely collaborate with Dr. Matthew Edwards, the former experimentalist in the same subproject, at Spelman College, receive further experimental data from him and make suggestions to him for future experiments. For this subproject, pertaining to elasticity of microemulsions, the student trainees will be involved in all aspects of the research activities, including computer programming, and fitting the data. They will also help to prepare and present the results in papers and talks.