SHAPES OF GENERALIZED RANDOM-WALKS

Shape parameters for self-avoiding, random, and collapsed walks have b een determined analytically and numerically using the results of recen t work on the path integral description of generalized Brownian motion . The analytical calculations are both simple and exact, and the predi cted values of the shape parameters in two and three dimensions are in close agreement with the simulation results and with the available li terature data, which are generally obtained by approximate, non-trivia l perturbation approaches. Typical realizations of actual walks in two dimensions suggest that despite its nonstationary character, the unde rlying generalized random walk process can serve as a useful minimal m odel of chain configurations. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.