Coherent States Formulation of Polymer Field Theory

ORAL

Abstract

We developed a coherent-states formulation of equilibrium polymer field theory. Compared with the traditional Edwards' auxiliary field framework that underpins both field-theoretic simulation (FTS) and self-consistent field theory (SCFT) methods, this formulation has a number of attractive features, including much more local operators and a finite order polynomial action. The formalism is developed in the grand canonical ensemble for the Edwards model of polymers in an implicit solvent, and we show how to derive a numerically tractable scheme. We explore the efficiency and stability of the method in mean-field and~fully fluctuating simulations for a polymer solution confined to a~slit in one dimension.

*This work made use of MRL Central Facilities supported by the MRSEC Program of the National Science Foundation under Award DMR-0520415.

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Authors

  • Xingkun Man

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Kris Delaney

    • Department of the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Glenn Fredrickson

    • Department of Chemical Engineering and the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara

  • Henri Orland

    • Institut de Physique Theorique, CEA-Saclay, France