Supersymmetric Matrix Models and the Meander Problem

Abstract

We consider matrix-model representations of the meander problem which describes, in particular, combinatorics for foldings of closed polymer chains. We introduce a supersymmetric matrix model for describing the principal meander numbers. This model is of the type proposed by Marinari and Parisi for discretizing a superstring in D=1 while the supersymmetry is realized in D=0 as a rotational symmetry between bosonic and fermionic matrices. Using non-commutative sources, we reformulate the meander problem in a Boltzmannian Fock space whose annihilation and creation operators obey the Cuntz algebra. We discuss also the relation between the matrix models describing the meander problem and the Kazakov-Migdal model on a D-dimensional lattice.