Concentration dependence of the initial decay rate of the polymer dynamical scattering factor: A renormalization-group study

Abstract

The initial decay rate of the dynamical scattering function for semidilute polymer solutions is calculated as a function of solvent quality with the aid of the ε-expansion method, which has been semiquantitatively reliable for various properties of polymer systems. In the present calculation, the hydrodynamic screening effect, which presumably is relevant for larger wave numbers, is not taken into account. Comparison of the results given here and experimental results should reveal the significance of the screening effect. Calculational tools for semidilute solutions are streamlined and systematized in the appendixes, and the static scattering function is also given as a function of the solvent quality.