# Finite- N effects for ideal polymer chains near a flat impenetrable wall

Matsen, M. W., Kim, J. U. and Likhtman, A. E. (2009) Finite- N effects for ideal polymer chains near a flat impenetrable wall. European Physical Journal E, 29 (1). pp. 107-115. ISSN 1292-8941

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To link to this item DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2009-10454-2

## Abstract/Summary

This paper addresses the statistical mechanics of ideal polymer chains next to a hard wall. The principal quantity of interest, from which all monomer densities can be calculated, is the partition function, G N(z) , for a chain of N discrete monomers with one end fixed a distance z from the wall. It is well accepted that in the limit of infinite N , G N(z) satisfies the diffusion equation with the Dirichlet boundary condition, G N(0) = 0 , unless the wall possesses a sufficient attraction, in which case the Robin boundary condition, G N(0) = - x G N ′(0) , applies with a positive coefficient, x . Here we investigate the leading N -1/2 correction, D G N(z) . Prior to the adsorption threshold, D G N(z) is found to involve two distinct parts: a Gaussian correction (for z <~Unknown control sequence '\lesssim' aN 1/2 with a model-dependent amplitude, A , and a proximal-layer correction (for z <~Unknown control sequence '\lesssim' a described by a model-dependent function, B(z).

Item Type: Article Yes Faculty of Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Mathematics and Statistics 17187 Springer

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