Demixing of compact polymers chains in three dimensions

Jesper Jacobsen (1)

1 LPTENS - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de l'ENS [École Normale Supérieure]

We present a Monte Carlo algorithm that provides efficient and unbiased sampling of polymer melts consisting of two chains of equal length that jointly visit all the sites of a cubic lattice with rod geometry L x L x rL and non-periodic (hard wall) boundary conditions. Using this algorithm for chains of length up to 40 000 monomers and aspect ratios 1 <= r <= 10, we show that in the limit of a large lattice the two chains phase separate. This demixing phenomenon is present already for r=1, and becomes more pronounced, albeit not perfect, as r is increased.

Domaines: Mécanique statistique [cond-mat.stat-mech]; Organisation et fonctions cellulaires [q-bio.SC]

Jesper Jacobsen. Demixing of compact polymers chains in three dimensions. 2010. ⟨hal-00484973v2⟩