Phase transitions of semiflexible lattice polymers

Dense systems of semiflexible polymers on square and cubic lattices, each chain comprising up to N=30 lattice sites, have been investigated by Monte Carlo methods. It is shown that semiflexibility only does not lead to a phase transition between an isotropic and a long-range orientationally ordered state, rather local orientation-dependent intermolecular interactions are necessary in order to observe a nematic transition, which is of first order in three dimensions.