Dynamics of polymers: classic results and recent developments

TL;DR

This paper reviews classical and recent theories of polymer dynamics, focusing on unentangled systems, entanglements, and topological states, providing a comprehensive overview for researchers in statistical mechanics and condensed matter physics.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive review of both classical and recent developments in polymer dynamics, including new scaling and analytical models for unentangled systems and insights into topological states.

Findings

Review of classical Rouse and Zimm models

Discussion of recent scaling and analytical generalizations

Brief overview of entangled and topological states

Abstract

In this chapter we review concepts and theories of polymer dynamics. We think of it as an introduction to the topic for scientists specializing in other subfields of statistical mechanics and condensed matter theory, so, for the readers reference, we start with a short review of the equilibrium static properties of polymer systems. Most attention is paid to the dynamics of unentangled polymer systems, where apart from classical Rouse and Zimm models we review some recent scaling and analytical generalizations. The dynamics of systems with entanglements is also briefly reviewed. Special attention is paid to the discussion of comparatively weakly understood topological states of polymer systems and possible approaches to the description of their dynamics.