Collapse of Randomly Linked Polymers
Yacov Kantor (Tel Aviv U.), Mehran Kardar (MIT)
TL;DR
This paper investigates the structural behavior of randomly linked polymers, revealing that an ideal chain remains expanded when the number of links is much less than the number of monomers, challenging previous free energy-based conclusions.
Contribution
It provides analytical and numerical evidence that ideal polymers stay expanded under certain linking conditions, contradicting earlier free energy predictions.
Findings
Ideal chains remain expanded when M << N
Contradicts previous free energy results
Combines analytical and numerical approaches
Abstract
We consider polymers in which M randomly selected pairs of monomers are restricted to be in contact. Analytical arguments and numerical simulations show that an ideal (Gaussian) chain of N monomers remains expanded as long as M<<N. This result is inconsistent with results obtained from free energy considerations by Brygelson and Thirumalai (PRL76, 542 (1996)).
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