Delocalization transitions of semi-flexible manifolds

Abstract

Semi-flexible manifolds such as fluid membranes or semi-flexible polymers undergo delocalization transitions if they are subject to attractive interactions. We study manifolds with short-ranged interactions by field-theoretic methods based on the operator product expansion of local interaction fields. We apply this approach to manifolds in a random potential. Randomness is always relevant for fluid membranes, while for semi-flexible polymers there is a first order transition to the strong coupling regime at a finite temperature.