The size of a polymer of string-bits: a numerical investigation Original Research Article

In string-bit models, a string is described as a linear chain (“polymer”) of point-like constituents. We attempt to use string-bit ideas to investigate how the size of the string is affected by string interactions in a non-perturbative context. Lacking adequate methods to deal with the full complications of bit rearrangement interactions, we study instead a simplified analog model with only “direct” potential interactions among the bits. We use the variational principle in an approximate calculation of the mean-square size of a polymer as a function of the number of constituents/bits for various interaction strengths g in three specific models.