  There exists a generic relationship between the thermodynamics of a
continuous polymer with a generic self-interaction and the two-point function
of an interacting field-theory. In addition, the (2N)-point function of the
resulting field theory is similarly related to a system of N interacting
polymers.
  In the present paper, this relation is explored for the special case of a
polyelectrolyte, characterized by a screened Coulomb pair potential. The
corresponding field theory can be recast in a particularly simple form,
corresponding to a quantum-mechanical particle, self-interacting via the
emission and absorption of a massive scalar field.
  This is particularly useful in a perturbative treatment: perturbative
expansions for the polyelectrolyte can be simply derived from the loop
expansion for the related field-theoretical two-point function, for which
established computational methods exist.
