SOME CONFORMATION PROBLEMS FOR LONG MACROMOLECULES

The statistical mechanics of long flexible chains somewhat benefit from an analogy where a chain configuration is interpreted as one path for a quantum mechanical particle. For instance: (i) the problem of a long chain weakly bound to an adsorbing surface is reminiscent of the ground state of the deuteron, where its wave function extends at distances much longer than the attractive potential; (ii) the coupling between both strands in partially denatured deoxyribonucleic acid is equivalent to a two-body scattering problem (including bound states). The mathematical principles of this correspondence are described here.