Collapsed 2-Dimensional Polymers on a Cylinder

Abstract

Single partially confined collapsed polymers are studied in two dimensions. They are described by self-avoiding random walks with nearest-neighbour attractions below the $Θ$-point, on the surface of an infinitely long cylinder. For the simulations we employ the pruned-enriched-Rosenbluth method (PERM). The same model had previously been studied for free polymers (infinite lattice, no boundaries) and for polymers on finite lattices with periodic boundary conditions. We verify the previous estimates of bulk densities, bulk free energies, and surface tensions. We find that the free energy of a polymer with fixed length $N$ has, for $N\to \infty$, a minimum at a finite cylinder radius $R^*$ which diverges as $T\to T_θ$. Furthermore, the surface tension vanishes roughly as $(T_θ-T)^α$ for $T\to T_θ$ with $α\approx 1.7$. The density in the interior of a globule scales as $(T_θ-T)^β$ with $β\approx 0.32$.