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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Analyzing Melts and Fluids from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations with the UMD Package
Published on: September 17, 2021
Structural and conformational dynamics of supercooled polymer melts: insights from first-principles theory and
Song-Ho Chong1, Martin Aichele, Hendrik Meyer
1Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
Abstract:
We report on quantitative comparisons between simulation results of a bead-spring model and mode-coupling theory calculations for the structural and conformational dynamics of a supercooled, unentangled polymer melt. We find semiquantitative agreement between simulation and theory, except for processes that occur on intermediate length scales between the compressibility plateau and the amorphous halo of the static structure factor. Our results suggest that the onset of slow relaxation in a glass-forming melt can be described in terms of monomer caging supplemented by chain connectivity. Furthermore, a unified atomistic description of glassy arrest and of conformational fluctuations that (asymptotically) follow the Rouse model emerges from our theory.
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