Crumpled Wires and Liouville Field Theory
arXiv:0805.2896 · doi:10.1209/0295-5075/88/31001
Abstract
The study of the packing of a length of wire in a two dimensional domain is done using techniques of conformal maps. The resulting scaling properties are derived through the Coulomb gas formalism of Conformal Field Theories. An analogy is drawn between this system and the 2D gravitational -- or Liouville -- coupling of non-conformally invariant matter in two dimensions.
4 pages, RevTeX4, Preliminary discussion changed to clarify the global structure