A renormalization group analysis of ternary polymer solutions

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Abstract
We calculate to the order of one loop the renormalization group trajectories for a solution containing two polymer species in a common solvent. These trajectories could be observed by measuring the interpenetration ratios, and we discuss crossover functions for these quantities evaluated to one loop order. The renormalization group flow also determines the phase diagram of the system, and we present a detailed analysis of the spinodal limiting the region of local stability of the homogeneous solution. Even in tree approximation the renormalized theory yields results markedly different from both Flory-Huggins theory or simple scaling considerations