Abstract:
We give a detailed analysis of the intersection properties of polymers. Using the renormalization group we provide a full crossover function for the dependence of the number of intersections in a single polymer on chain length and excluded volume strength. We compare our results with Monte-Carlo data and with exact calculations for a random walk, finding good agreement in all respects. Restricting to the vicinity of the eight ternary fixed points we also calculate the number of intersections between two chains placed at a fixed distance, including the two halves of a block-copolymer. The analysis of these systems confirms the interpretation of the different contributions to the number of intersections in a single chain. Due to the highly nontrivial character of the correlations in a polymer chain the correction exponents in both cases however are different. None of the results can be extracted from any Flory-type estimate.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: 1 April 1997 / Revised: 24 October 1997 / Accepted: 29 January 1998
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Müller, S., Schäfer, L. On the number of intersections of self-repelling polymer chains. Eur. Phys. J. B 2, 351–369 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050259
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050259