Ranking knots of random, globular polymer rings.
An analysis of extensive simulations of interacting self-avoiding polygons on cubic lattice shows that the frequencies of different knots realized in a random, collapsed polymer ring decrease as a negative power of the ranking order, and suggests that the total number of different knots realized grows exponentially with the chain length. Relative frequencies of specific knots converge to definite values because the free energy per monomer, and its leading finite size corrections, do not depend on the ring topology, while a subleading correction only depends on the crossing number of the knots.
Baiesi
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Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Firenze, and Sezione INFN, Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
Orlandini
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Stella
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D011108:Polymers
D011108:Polymers