We aim to clarify confusions in the literature as to whether or not dynamical density functional theories for the one-body density of a classical Brownian fluid should contain a stochastic noise term. We point out that a stochastic as well as a deterministic equation of motion for the density distribution can be justified, depending on how the fluid one-body density is defined -i.e. whether it is an ensemble averaged density distribution or a spatially and/or temporally coarse grained density distribution.

Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray or neutron scattering of thin polymer films reveals information about the ordering and preferential orientations of the phase-separated microdomains within the films. The grazing-incidence geometry enhances the surface sensitivity; however, the scattering has to be treated within the framework of the distorted-wave Born approximation. In this work, the case of thin films with lamellar mesostructure is studied, where the orientation of the lamellae is either perpendicular or parallel to the film interfaces. For perpendicular lamellae, Bragg rods are found, which are extended along the film normal, whereas for parallel lamellae, peaks along the film normal appear. The positions of the maxima present in the latter case are explained by accounting for refraction at the film surface and reflection at the film-substrate interface. The results are relevant for thin films of lamellar diblock copolymers.

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