An exact solution of three interacting friendly walks in the bulk

TL;DR

This paper provides an exact solution for a model of three interacting directed walks on a lattice, revealing phase transitions including second-order and first-order gelation boundaries.

Contribution

It introduces a novel exact solution for three interacting walks with two interaction parameters, using the obstinate kernel method, and analyzes complex phase behavior.

Findings

Identification of free and gelated phases with a second-order transition

Discovery of a first-order gelation boundary in the full model

Exact functional equations solved for the generating function

Abstract

We find the exact solution of three interacting friendly directed walks on the square lattice in the bulk, modelling a system of homopolymers that can undergo gelation by introducing two distinct interaction parameters that differentiate between the zipping of only two or all three walks. We establish functional equations for the model's corresponding generating function that are subsequently solved exactly by means of the \emph{obstinate kernel method}. We then proceed to analyse our model, first considering the case where triple-walk interaction effects are ignored, finding that our model exhibits two phases which we classify as free and gelated regions, with the system exhibiting a second-order phase transition. We then analyse the full model where both interaction parameters are incorporated, presenting the full phase diagram and highlighting the additional existence of a first-order gelation boundary.