1999/11/08 by T. J. Newman, Newman, T. J., Eugene B. Kolomeisky +1
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Diatoms and Algae Research #FOS: Biological sciences #FOS: Physical sciences #History and advancements in chemistry #Quantitative Biology (q-bio) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Various Chemistry Research Topics #cond-mat.stat-mech #q-bio
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/9911112
4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters
arxiv created 1999/11/08 · openalex publication_date 1999/11/08 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We construct a phenomenological theory of self-localization of directed polymers in d+1 dimensions. In d=1 we show that the polymer is always self-localized, whereas in d=2 there is a phase transition between localized and free states. We also map this system to a model of population dynamics with fixed total population. Our previous results translate to static and expanding population clusters, depending on the birth and death rates. A novel ``pseudo-travelling wave'' is observed in some sectors of parameter space.