Universal phase behavior of reversible polymer gels under mean field theory

We present a new field-based model of reversible polymer gels in solution that utilizes recently developed Coherent States (CS) approaches. We are able to predict both phase separation boundaries and percolation transitions by invoking a mean field approximation and show that a small set of dimensionless parameters control the phase behavior. Gaussian fluctuation analysis beyond the mean field approximation accounts for network defects including loops, but makes unphysical predictions in the dilute supernatant. Fully fluctuating Field Theoretic Simulations (FTSs) on the other hand give physically meaningful corrections to the mean field results.