Pole topology of the structure functions of continuous systems

We develop a theory of the pole topology of the Laplace transform of the structure functions of continuous N component systems based on the Wiener-Hopf technique. We classify systems according to the spectrum of the NxN matrix Q(t), with elements Q(ij)(t)=delta(ij)-2pi square root [rho(i)rho(j)]integrale(-tr)q(ij)(r)dr, associated with their factor functions q(ij)(r). For the simplest nontrivial class of systems--namely, that with only two eigenvalues of Q(t) different from one--a full and explicit analysis of the pole topology is possible. We illustrate the theory with exactly solvable examples, such as the Percus-Yevick equation for arbitrary mixtures of hard spheres (HS) and polydisperse HS and the mean spherical model for binary mixtures of adhesive spheres.