Mesostructure of polymer collapse and fractal smoothing

G. E. Crooks, B. Ostrovsky, Y. Bar-Yam
1999 Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics  
We investigate the internal structure of a polymer during collapse from an expanded coil to a compact globule. Collapse is more probable in local regions of high curvature, so a smoothing of the fractal polymer structure occurs that proceeds systematically from the shortest to the longest length scales. A proposed universal scaling relationship is tested by comparison with Monte Carlo simulations. We speculate that the universal form applies to various fractal systems with local processes that
more » ... romote smoothness over time. The results complement earlier work showing that on the macroscale polymer collapse proceeds by driven diffusion of the polymer ends.
doi:10.1103/physreve.60.4559 pmid:11970313 fatcat:mx7ypvaakvfmjefadh4xm3sdei