Structure of polyelectrolytes in poor solvent

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Abstract
We present simulations on charged polymers in poor solvent. First we investigate in detail the dilute concentration range with and without imposed extension constraints. The resulting necklace polymer conformations are analyzed in detail. We find strong fluctuations in the number of pearls and their sizes leading only to small signatures in the form factor and the force-extension relation. The scaling of the peak in the structure factor with the monomer density shows a pertinent different behavior from good solvent chains.