  We have performed light-scattering measurements in dilute and semidilute
polymer solutions of polystyrene in toluene when subjected to stationary
temperature gradients. Five solutions with concentrations below and one
solution with a concentration above the overlap concentration were
investigated. The experiments confirm the presence of long-range nonequilibrium
concentration fluctuations which are proportional to $(\nabla T)^2/k^4$, where
$\nabla T$ is the applied temperature gradient and $k$ is the wave number of
the fluctuations. In addition, we demonstrate that the strength of the
nonequilibrium concentration fluctuations, observed in the dilute and
semidilute solution regime, agrees with theoretical values calculated from
fluctuating hydrodynamics. Further theoretical and experimental work will be
needed to understand nonequilibrium fluctuations in polymer solutions at higher
concentrations.
