Faculty Profiles

Michael Rubinstein
Michael Rubinstein
Professor of Chemistry
Office: 
3377 Fciemas Building, Box 90300, Durham, NC 27708
Phone: 
(919) 660-5365
michael.rubinstein@duke.edu
Rubinstein Lab
Research Interests: 

The research of the Rubinstein group is in the field of polymer theory and computer simulations. The unique properties of polymeric systems are due to the size, topology and interactions of the molecules they are made of. Our goal is to understand the properties of various polymeric systems and to design new systems with even more interesting and useful properties.

Our approach is based upon building and solving simple molecular models of different polymeric systems. The models we develop are simple enough to be solved either analytically or numerically, but contain the main features leading to unique properties of real polymers. Computer simulations of our models serve as an important bridge between analytical calculations and experiments.

Overview

Education:

Ph.D., Harvard University 1983

Rubinstein, Michael. “Repton Model of Entangled Polymers.” New Trends in Physics and Physical Chemistry of Polymers, 1989, pp. 455–69.

Patton, E. V., et al. “Scaling Properties of Branched Polyesters.” Macromolecules, vol. 22, 1989, pp. 1946–59.

Rubinstein, Michael, and Ralph H. Colby. “Self‐consistent theory of polydisperse entangled polymers: Linear viscoelasticity of binary blends.” The Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 89, no. 8, AIP Publishing, Oct. 1988, pp. 5291–306. Crossref, doi:10.1063/1.455620. Full Text

Rubinstein, Michael, et al. “Theory of polydispersity effects of polymer rheology: binary distribution of molecular weights.” Macromolecules, vol. 20, no. 4, American Chemical Society (ACS), July 1987, pp. 822–29. Crossref, doi:10.1021/ma00170a021. Full Text

Rubinstein, M., et al. “Two-Dimensional XY Magnets with Random Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interactions.” Phys. Rev. B, vol. 27, 1983, pp. 1800–11.

Nelson, David R., et al. “Order in two-dimensional binary random arrays.” Philosophical Magazine A, vol. 46, no. 1, Informa UK Limited, July 1982, pp. 105–26. Crossref, doi:10.1080/01418618208236211. Full Text

Rubinstein, M., and D. R. Nelson. “Order and Deterministic Chaos in Hard Disk Arrays.” Phys. Rev. B, vol. 26, 1982, pp. 6254–75.

Manning, Gerald S. “Limiting Laws and Counterion Condensation in Polyelectrolyte Solutions I. Colligative Properties.” The Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 51, no. 3, AIP Publishing, Aug. 1969, pp. 924–33. Crossref, doi:10.1063/1.1672157. Full Text

Zheng, X., et al. “Long-Range Effects on Polymer Diffusion Induced by a Bounding Interface.” Physical Review Letters, vol. 79, no. 2, American Physical Society (APS), pp. 241–44. Crossref, doi:10.1103/physrevlett.79.241. Full Text

Zheng, X., et al. “Reptation Dynamics of a Polymer Melt near an Attractive Solid Interface.” Physical Review Letters, vol. 74, no. 3, American Physical Society (APS), pp. 407–10. Crossref, doi:10.1103/physrevlett.74.407. Full Text

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