Light scattering and structure in a deoxyribonucleic acid solution

Structural properties of macromolecular solutions have been investigated with a wide variety of techniques, among which light scattering is one of the most powerful. In the present paper we report the results of both elastic and quasielastic light scattering in a DNA solution at small angles. It is shown that in solution the macromolecules arrange themselves in an ordered structure that extends over semimacroscopic distances. The comparison between the static and dynamic response allows a better understanding of the physical meaning to be attributed to the structure, in terms of a $\overrightarrow{\mathrm{k}}$-dependent characteristic time for the regression of fluctuations.