| Abstract
| - Computer simulations on the self- and mutual-avoiding effects of two star polymers in agood solvent are reported where the number f of the branches has been extended to the region where noexperimental results are yet available. A simple and efficient Monte Carlo (MC) sampling technique wasused for the lattice-model simulations. Calculations were performed for 8- to 24-arm star polymers, whichcomplement our previous work and also Rubio et al.'s off-lattice MC simulations. The radius of gyration,the total number of configurations, and its exponent γ(f) are evaluated. The values of γ(f) obtained areconsistent with the large f behavior ∼ f3/2 predicted by Ohno (Phys. Rev.1989, A40, 1424). The pair-distribution function, the second virial coefficient, and the penetration function are also evaluated. Thefirst order ε-expansion, which is a naive approximation of the penetration function, has been known tobecome increasingly inaccurate for large f. The results of the simulations give further confirmation ofthe inaccuracy.
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