Scaling analysis of random walks with persistence lengths: Application to self-avoiding walks

We develop an approach for performing scaling analysis of N-step random walks (RWs). The mean square end-to-end distance, <(R) over right arrow (2)(N)>, is written in terms of inner persistence lengths (IPLs), which we define by the ensemble averages of dot products between the walker's position and displacement vectors, at the jth step. For RW models statistically invariant under orthogonal transformations, we analytically introduce a relation between <(R) over right arrow (2)(N)> and the persistence length, lambda(N), which is defined as the mean end-to-end vector projection in the first step direction. For self-avoiding walks (SAWs) on 2D and 3D lattices we introduce a series expansion for lambda(N), and by Monte Carlo simulations we find that lambda(infinity) is equal to a constant; the scaling corrections for lambda(N) can be second-and higher-order corrections to scaling for <(R) over right arrow (2)(N)>. Building SAWs with typically 100 steps, we estimate the exponents nu(0) and Delta(1) from the IPL behavior as function of j. The obtained results are in excellent agreement with those in the literature. This shows that only an ensemble of paths with the same length is sufficient for determining the scaling behavior of <(R) over right arrow (2)(N)>, being that the whole information needed is contained in the inner part of the paths.