Integral-equation theory of the structure of polymer melts

A general, analytically tractable, nonperturbative theory of the equilibrium structure of dense polymer melts is proposed on the basis of modern integral-equation theories of molecular liquids. Calculations are presented for polymer rings obeying Gaussian statistics and interacting via hard-core repulsions. The correlation hole, compressibility, and static structure factor are found to be sensitive functions of liquid density and degree of polymerization.