Videos

Self-Avoiding Walk and Branched Polymers

Presenter
March 7, 2011
Keywords:
  • Members Seminar
Abstract
I will introduce two basic problems in random geometry. A self-avoiding walk is a sequence of steps in a d-dimensional lattice with no self-intersections. If branching is allowed, it is called a branched polymer. Using supersymmetry, one can map these problems to more tractable ones in statistical mechanics. In many cases this allows for the determination of exponents governing the relationship between the diameter and the number of steps.