Notes on the statistics of polymer chains

The configurations of flexible macromolecules are discussed with particular emphasis on some problems arising in the theory of the volume effect. The main points considered are: ( 1 ) the relationship between the Kuhn statistical chain element and the carbon bond length; ( 2 ) the assumption that a polymer chain is equivalent to a collection of independent beads normally distributed with respect to the center of gravity (“Gaussian gas” model); ( 3 ) the distribution of segments of a polymer chain with respect to the center of gravity; ( 4 ) the theory of the execluded volume for plane models of a polymer molecule; ( 5 ) the relationship between the excluded volume and the local density of polymer segments; ( 6 ) the influence of the solvent on the excluded volume; ( 7 ) polymer configurations and viscosity.