The Behavior of Macromolecules in Inhomogeneous Flow

Following up the ideas of W. Kuhn's skein theory, J. J. Hermans has recently elaborated a theory of the properties of dilute solutions of highly polymerized molecules. Hermans describes the behavior of linear molecules by the diffusion of their end points. He finds that the contribution of a single molecule to the viscosity coefficient as well as to the double refraction of the solution is proportional to the square of the degree of polymerization, in agreement with the experiments. In the present article we investigate the statistical behavior of the individual links of the solved molecules. In this way we arrive at results equivalent with those of Hermans. Our method, however, can also be applied to molecules which possess branching points and rings.