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_⃗N²> , 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 j th step. For RW models statistically invariant under orthogonal transformations, we analytically introduce a relation between <R_⃗N²> and the persistence length, λ_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 λ_N, and by Monte Carlo simulations we find that λ_∞ is equal to a constant; the scaling corrections for λ_N can be second- and higher-order corrections to scaling for <R_⃗N²> . Building SAWs with typically 100 steps, we estimate the exponents ν₀ and Δ₁ 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_⃗N²> , being that the whole information needed is contained in the inner part of the paths.