Localization of random walks to competing manifolds of distinct dimensions.

We consider localization of a random walk (RW) when attracted or repelled by multiple extended manifolds of different dimensionalities. In particular, we consider a RW near a rectangular wedge in two dimensions, where the (zero-dimensional) corner and the (one-dimensional) wall have competing localization properties. This model applies also (as cross section) to an ideal polymer attracted to the surface or edge of a rectangular wedge in three dimensions. More generally, we consider (d-1)- and (d-2)-dimensional manifolds in d-dimensional space, where attractive interactions are (fully or marginally) relevant. The RW can then be in one of four phases where it is localized to neither, one, or both manifolds. The four phases merge at a special multicritical point where (away from the manifolds) the RW spreads diffusively. Extensive numerical analyses on two-dimensional RWs confined inside or outside a rectangular wedge confirm general features expected from a continuum theory, but also exhibit unexpected attributes, such as a reentrant localization to the corner while repelled by it.

Pinning and unbinding of ideal polymers from a wedge corner.

A polymer repelled by unfavorable interactions with a uniform flat surface may still be pinned to attractive edges and corners. This is demonstrated by considering adsorption of a two-dimensional ideal polymer to an attractive corner of a repulsive wedge. The well-known mapping between the statistical mechanics of an ideal polymer and the quantum problem of a particle in a potential is then used to analyze the singular behavior of the unbinding transition of the polymer. The divergence of the localization length is found to be governed by an exponent that varies continuously with the angle (when reflex). Numerical treatment of the discrete (lattice) version of such an adsorption problem confirms this behavior.