Partitioning of a polymer chain between two confining cavities: the role of electrostatic interactions
arXiv:cond-mat/9912162 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.62.799
Abstract
A recently developed lattice field theory approach to the statistical mechanics of charged polymers in electrolyte solutions [S. Tsonchev, R. D. Coalson, and A. Duncan, Phys. Rev. E {\bf{60}}, 4257, (1999)] is generalized to the case where ground-state dominance in the polymer's Green's function does not apply. The full mean-field equations for the system are derived and are shown to possess a unique solution. The approach is applied to the problem of a charged Gaussian polymer chain confined to move within the region defined by two fused spheres. The failure of the notion of ground-state dominance under certain conditions even in the limit of large number of monomers is demonstrated.
22 pages, 5 figures, LaTeX: references added