Depinning of a polymer in a multi-interface medium
Francesco Caravenna, University of Padova
Nicolas Pétrélis, University of Nantes
Abstract
In this paper we consider a model which describes a polymer chain interacting with an infinity of equi-spaced linear interfaces. The distance between two consecutive interfaces is denoted by T = TN and is allowed to grow with the size N of the polymer. When the polymer receives a positive reward for touching the interfaces, its asymptotic behavior has been derived in Caravenna Petrelis (2009), showing that a transition occurs when TN groes like log N. In the present paper, we deal with the so-called depinning case, i.e., the polymer is repelled rather than attracted by the interfaces. Using techniques from renewal theory, we determine the scaling behavior of the model for large N as a function of {TN}N, showing that two transitions occur, when TN groes like N1/3 and when TN groes like N1/2 respectively.
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