Memorizing polymers' shapes and permutations
Vladimir Dotsenko, Silvio Franz, Marc Mézard · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General · 1992
The authors discuss the equilibrium configurations of heteropolymers. The interaction potential for each pair of monomers is chosen in such a way (using a 'Hebbian' learning rule) that the (meta)stable states of the polymer are some preassigned shapes. The problem is analysed in some detail in the infinite-dimensional case, where the 'shapes' correspond to permutations, and the memory capacity is computed. The one-dimensional case is also considered.