Dissipative Dynamics of a Single Polymer in Solution: A Lowe-Andersen Approach

TL;DR

This paper investigates the equilibrium and dynamic behavior of a single polymer in solution using a mesoscopic Lowe-Andersen dissipative particle dynamics model, confirming Zimm scaling for diffusion.

Contribution

It introduces a mesoscopic modeling approach that accurately captures static and dynamic properties of polymers, including hydrodynamic effects and diffusion scaling.

Findings

The model reproduces correct static equilibrium behavior.

The diffusion coefficient scales with polymer length as D ~ N^{-3/5}.

Hydrodynamic effects are effectively incorporated in the simulation.

Abstract

We study the equilibrium dynamics of a single polymer chain under good solvent condition. Special emphasis is laid on varying the drag force experienced by the chain while it moves. To this end we model the solvent in a mesoscopic manner by employing the Lowe-Andersen approach of dissipative particle dynamics which is known to reproduce hydrodynamic effects. Our approach captures the correct static behavior in equilibrium. Regarding the dynamics, we investigate the scaling of the self-diffusion coefficient $D$ with respect to the length of the polymer $N$, yielding results that are compatible with the Zimm scaling $D \sim N^{-3/5}$.