The Schwinger-Dyson approximation in elastic dumbbell models for flexible polymers

Abstract We present a set of nonlinear integral equations as an approximation scheme for the correlation and response functions in an elastic dumbbell model for flexible macromolecules suspended in a Newtonian fluid. Material functions such as the viscosity, the normal stress coefficients and the end-to-end distance as well as two-time-correlation functions are calculated. The results are in excellent agreement with exact results where they are available.