---
abstract: 'We compute phase diagrams for $A_nB_m$ starblock copolymers in the strong-segregation regime as a function of volume fraction $\phi$, including bicontinuous phases related to minimal surfaces (G, D, and P surfaces) as candidate structures. We present the details of a general method to compute free energies in the strong segregation limit, and demonstrate that the gyroid G phase is the most nearly stable among the bicontinuous phases considered. We explore some effects of conformational asymmetry on the topology of the phase diagram.'
address: '$^1$Department of Physics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK and $^2$Exxon Research & Engineering Company, Corporate Research Science Laboratories, Annandale NJ 08801'
author:
- 'Peter D. Olmsted$^{\ast 1}$ and Scott T. Milner$^2$'
title: 'Strong-Segregation Theory of Bicontinuous Phases in Block Copolymers'
---

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Introduction
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Block copolymers (BCPs), comprising chemically distinct polymers permanently linked together, are interesting because of the diverse array of ordered phases to which both polymer theory and experiment have been directed.[@bates88; @batesglenn90] The phase behavior of diblock copolymer melts is a competition between the entropic tendency to mix the two species into an isotropic melt, and an energetic penalty for having unlike species 