LONG-RANGE INTERACTIONS AND THE PAIR-CORRELATION FUNCTION IN DIPOLAR MAIN-CHAIN NEMATIC POLYMERS

A thermotropic nematic phase of dipolar mesogenic polymers with long-range interactions is considered. Using a graphical representation of the corresponding path integrals for the grand canonical ensemble, we derive a Dyson-type equation for the pair-correlation function. We calculate this correlation function in the random-phase approximation, accounting for anisotropic steric repulsion, dispersion, and dipole-dipole interactions between monomers. As an implication of the model, we calculate the (anisotropic) dielectric susceptibility of a dipolar nematic polymer, which shows a divergent behavior at some critical temperature.