Statistical Mechanics of Confined Polymer Networks

TL;DR

This paper extends the critical behavior theory of polymer networks to confined geometries, deriving new exponents and relations for various surface transitions and network topologies, supported by numerical evidence in 2D and 3D.

Contribution

It generalizes the critical exponents of polymer networks to confined cases, including hyperplane boundaries and multi-bridge configurations, using SLE and KPZ in 2D.

Findings

Derived relations between critical exponents at the $ heta$-point.

Explicit expressions for configurational exponents involving bulk and surface contributions.

Numerical validation of theoretical predictions in two and three dimensions.

Abstract

We show how the theory of the critical behaviour of $d$-dimensional polymer networks of arbitrary topology can be generalized to the case of networks confined by hyperplanes. This in particular encompasses the case of a single polymer chain in a bridge configuration. We further define multi-bridge networks, where several vertices are in local bridge configurations. We consider all cases of ordinary, mixed and special surface transitions, and polymer chains made of self-avoiding walks, or of mutually-avoiding walks, or at the tricritical $\Theta$-point. In the $\Theta$-point case, generalising the good-solvent case, we relate the critical exponent for simple bridges, $\gamma_b^{\Theta}$, to that of terminally-attached arches, $\gamma_{11}^{\Theta},$ and to the correlation length exponent $\nu^{\Theta}.$ We find $\gamma_b^{\Theta} = \gamma_{11}^{\Theta}+\nu^{\Theta}.$ In the case of the special transition, we find $\gamma_b^{\Theta}({\rm sp}) = \frac{1}{2}[\gamma_{11}^{\Theta}({\rm sp})+\gamma_{11}^{\Theta}]+\nu^{\Theta}.$ For general networks, the explicit expression of configurational exponents then naturally involve bulk and surface exponents for multiple random paths. In two-dimensions, we describe their Euclidean exponents from a unified perspective, using Schramm-Loewner Evolution (SLE) in Liouville quantum gravity (LQG), and the so-called KPZ relation between Euclidean and LQG scaling dimensions. This is done in the case of ordinary, mixed and special surface transitions, and of the $\Theta$-point. We provide compelling numerical evidence for some of these results both in two- and three-dimensions.