Partitioning of a polymer chain between two confining cavities: The role of electrostatic interactions

A recently developed lattice field theory approach to the statistical mecha nics of charged polymers in electrolyte solutions [S. Tsonchev, R. D. Coals on, and A. Duncan, Phys. Rev. E 60, 4257, (1999)] is generalized to the cas e where ground-state dominance in the polymer's Green's function does not a pply. The full mean-field equations for the system are derived and are show n to possess a unique solution. The approach is applied to the problem of a charged Gaussian polymer chain confined to move within the region defined by two fused spheres. The failure of the notion of ground-state dominance u nder certain conditions even in the limit of large monomer number is demons trated.