title: Probing polyelectrolyte elasticity using radial distribution function.
abstract: We study the effect of electrostatic interactions on the distribution function of the end-to-end distance of a single polyelectrolyte chain in the rodlike limit. The extent to which the radial distribution function of a polyelectrolyte is reproduced by that of a wormlike chain with an adjusted persistence length is investigated. Strong evidence is found for a universal scaling formula connecting the effective persistence length of a polyelectrolyte with its linear charge density and the Debye screening of its self-interaction. An alternative definition of the electrostatic persistence length is proposed based on matching of the maximum of the distribution with that of an effective wormlike chain, as opposed to the traditional matching of the first or the second moments of the distributions. It is shown that this definition provides a more accurate probe of the affinity of the distribution to that of the wormlike chains, as compared to the traditional definition. It is also found that the length of a polyelectrolyte segment can act as a crucial parameter in determining its elastic properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, Box 951547, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547, USA.
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zandi
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rudnick
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Golestanian