Rigorous theoretical methods and simulation procedures will be used to study the details of polymer chain statistics due to entanglements, interpenetration by another chain, and the proximity of an interacting surface. A detailed study of the collective density fluctuations in a solution of semiflexible chains will be undertaken to better understand the onset of the isotropic-liquid crystalline phase transition as a function of chain stiffness. A study of defects in random and model networks will be undertaken, as well as a study of the dynamic properties of gels.
