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What is the length of a knot in a polymer?

B. Marcone, E. Orlandini, A. L. Stella, F. Zonta

cond-mat.stat-mecharXiv:cond-mat/0405253

Abstract

We give statistical definitions of the length, l, of a loose prime knot tied into a long, fluctuating ring macromolecule. Monte Carlo results for the equilibrium, good solvent regime show that < l > ~ Nt, where N is the ring length and t ~ 0.75 is independent of the knot topology. In the collapsed regime below the theta temperature, length determinations based on the entropic competition of different knots within the same ring show delocalization (t~1).

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