Relation between a Screened Polyelectrolyte and a Field Theory
Abstract
There exists a generic relationship between the thermodynamics of a continuous polymer with a generic self-interaction and the two-point function of an interacting field-theory. In addition, the (2N)-point function of the resulting field theory is similarly related to a system of N interacting polymers. In the present paper, this relation is explored for the special case of a polyelectrolyte, characterized by a screened Coulomb pair potential. The corresponding field theory can be recast in a particularly simple form, corresponding to a quantum-mechanical particle, self-interacting via the emission and absorption of a massive scalar field. This is particularly useful in a perturbative treatment: perturbative expansions for the polyelectrolyte can be simply derived from the loop expansion for the related field-theoretical two-point function, for which established computational methods exist.
Cite
@article{arxiv.chem-ph/9608004,
title = {Relation between a Screened Polyelectrolyte and a Field Theory},
author = {Bo Soderberg},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:chem-ph/9608004},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
Important references added, and corresponding changes done. LaTeX file (using REVTeX), and two PostScript figures included with psfig