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Some unusual features of the configuration of polymer loops in a melt
Author(s) -
Brereton Michael,
Vilgis Thomas A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.19940870118
Subject(s) - writhe , exponent , gaussian , loop (graph theory) , polymer , statistical physics , simple (philosophy) , weighting , physics , conductance , materials science , chemical physics , mathematics , twist , condensed matter physics , geometry , nuclear magnetic resonance , combinatorics , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , acoustics
A diversity of structural features can be imposed on a melt of polymer loops by controlling the linking number between each pair of loops. For the simple case of unlinked loops, considered in this paper, new statistical weighting factors have been found which depend on the global configurational properties of writhe and self inductance . The separate effect of these terms is extreme: the writhe term favours rod‐like statistics, whereas the inductance favours globular configurations. Together the two terms tend to cancel each other in a way which is reminiscent of the screened potential in polymer chain melts. The result is that the exponent which describes the size of an unlinked loop in a melt of unlinked loops is perturbed from the gaussian result of 0.5 to 0.45.