Polymers with self-avoiding interaction in random media: a localization-delocalization transition

TL;DR

This paper studies how long self-avoiding polymers behave in random media, revealing a transition from localized blobs to delocalized wandering as self-avoidance strength increases.

Contribution

It introduces a model describing the localization-delocalization transition of self-avoiding polymers in random environments, with quantitative estimates of chain structure.

Findings

Polymer forms blobs in low potential regions at weak self-avoidance.

Increasing self-avoidance causes a transition to delocalization.

Quantitative estimates of monomer distribution in blobs and segments.

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the problem of a long self-avoiding polymer chain immersed in a random medium. We find that in the limit of a very long chain and when the self-avoiding interaction is weak, the conformation of the chain consists of many ``blobs'' with connecting segments. The blobs are sections of the molecule curled up in regions of low potential in the case of a Gaussian distributed random potential or in regions of relatively low density of obstacles in the case of randomly distributed hard obstacles. We find that as the strength of the self-avoiding interaction is increased the chain undergoes a delocalization transition in the sense that the appropriate free energy per monomer is no longer negative. The chain is then no longer bound to a particular location in the medium but can easily wander around under the influence of a small perturbation. For a localized chain we estimate quantitatively the expected number of monomers in the ``blobs'' and in the connecting segments.