Title: Disorder effects on the static scattering function of star branched polymers
Author(s):

	V. Blavatska (Institute for Condensed Matter Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 79011 Lviv, Ukraine) ,
	C. von Ferber (Applied Mathematics Research Centre, Coventry University, CV1 5FB Coventry, UK; Institut für Theoretische Physik II, Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf, D–40225 Düsseldorf, Germany) ,
	Yu. Holovatch (Institute for Condensed Matter Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 79011 Lviv, Ukraine)

We present an analysis of the impact of structural disorder on the static scattering function of f-armed star branched polymers in d dimensions. To this end, we consider the model of a star polymer immersed in a good solvent in the presence of structural defects, correlated at large distances r according to a power law ~r^-a. In particular, we are interested in the ratio g(f) of the radii of gyration of star and linear polymers of the same molecular weight, which is a universal experimentally measurable quantity. We apply a direct polymer renormalization approach and evaluate the results within the double ϵ = 4 - d, δ = 4 - a-expansion. We find an increase of g(f) with an increasing δ. Therefore, an increase of disorder correlations leads to an increase of the size measure of a star relative to linear polymers of the same molecular weight.

Key words: polymers, structural disorder, universality, renormalization group
PACS: 61.41.+e, 61.25.hp, 64.60.ae

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