LONG-RANGE INTERACTIONS AND THE PAIR-CORRELATION FUNCTION IN DIPOLAR MAIN-CHAIN NEMATIC POLYMERS

A thermotropic nematic phase of dipolar mesogenic polymers with long-r ange interactions is considered. Using a graphical representation of t he corresponding path integrals for the grand canonical ensemble, we d erive a Dyson-type equation for the pair-correlation function. We calc ulate this correlation function in the random-phase approximation, acc ounting for anisotropic steric repulsion, dispersion, and dipole-dipol e interactions between monomers. As an implication of the model, we ca lculate the (anisotropic) dielectric susceptibility of a dipolar nemat ic polymer, which shows a divergent behavior at some critical temperat ure.