Random Walks
The study of long chain polymers has been a source of problems within the realms of statistical mechanics since about the 1950s. One of the reasons however that scientists were interested in their study is that the equations governing the behavior of a polymer chain were independent of the chain chemistry. What is more, the governing equation turns out to be a random walk, or diffusive walk, in space. Indeed, the Schrödinger equation is itself a diffusion equation in imaginary time, t' = it.
Read more about this topic: Statistical Mechanics
Famous quotes containing the words random and/or walks:
“Novels as dull as dishwater, with the grease of random sentiments floating on top.”
—Italo Calvino (1923–1985)
“Ye have been fresh and green,
Ye have been fill’d with flowers:
And ye the Walks have been
Where Maids have spent their houres.”
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)