Efficient implementation of the pivot algorithm for self-avoiding walks

Abstract

The pivot algorithm for self-avoiding walks has been implemented in a manner which is dramatically faster than previous implementations, enabling extremely long walks to be efficiently simulated. We explicitly describe the data structures and algorithms used, and provide a heuristic argument that the mean time per attempted pivot for $N$-step self-avoiding walks is $O(1)$ for the square and simple cubic lattices. Numerical experiments conducted for self-avoiding walks with up to 268 million steps are consistent with $o(\log N)$ behavior for the square lattice and $O(\log N)$ behavior for the simple cubic lattice. Our method can be adapted to other models of polymers with short-range interactions, on the lattice or in the continuum, and hence promises to be widely useful.