
It is commonly accepted that in concentrated solutions or melts high-molecular weight polymers display random-walk conformational properties without long-range correlations between subsequent bonds. This absence of memory means, for instance, that the bond-bond correlation function, $P(s)$, of two bonds separated by $s$ monomers along the chain should exponentially decay with $s$. Presenting numerical results and theoretical arguments for both monodisperse chains and self-assembled (essentially Flory size-distributed) equilibrium polymers we demonstrate that some long-range correlations remain due to self-interactions of the chains caused by the chain connectivity and the incompressibility of the melt. Suggesting a profound analogy with the well-known long-range velocity correlations in liquids we find, for instance, $P(s)$ to decay algebraically as $s^{-3/2}$. Our study suggests a precise method for obtaining the statistical segment length \bstar in a computer experiment.
4 pages, 3 figures
Macromolecular and polymer solutions, Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), FOS: Physical sciences, Monte Carlo methods, Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter, Polymer melts, [PHYS.COND.CM-SCM] Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Soft Condensed Matter [cond-mat.soft]
Macromolecular and polymer solutions, Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), FOS: Physical sciences, Monte Carlo methods, Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter, Polymer melts, [PHYS.COND.CM-SCM] Physics [physics]/Condensed Matter [cond-mat]/Soft Condensed Matter [cond-mat.soft]
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 14 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
