Mapping a homopolymer onto a model fluid.
We describe a linear homopolymer using a grand canonical ensemble formalism, a statistical representation that is very convenient for formal manipulations. We investigate the properties of a system where only next neighbor interactions and an external, confining, field are present and then show how a general pair interaction can be introduced perturbatively, making use of a Mayer expansion. Through a diagrammatic analysis, we shall show how constitutive equations derived for the polymeric system are equivalent to the Ornstein-Zernike and Percus-Yevick equations for a simple fluid and find the implications of such a mapping for the simple situation of Van der Waals mean field model for the fluid.
Pasquali
S
S
PCT-Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France. samuela@turner.pct.espci.fr
Percus
J K
JK