Gaussian self-consistent approach to multichain polymer systems

Here we extend the Gaussian self-consistent method that has been successfully applied to the single polymer collapse problem to a polymer solution of many identical chains earlier. This method permits a complete study of the equilibrium thermodynamic properties as well as of the kinetic transformations. We discuss various aspects of the aggregation and collapse phenomena paying particular attention to the interplay between the intra- and inter-molecular degrees of freedom. We show that, at equilibrium, in part of the parameter space our equations may be reduced to those of the Flory-Huggins mean field theory. In kinetics a new phenomenon, notably the existence of a long-lived metastable state of “mesoglobules”, is found.