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Ground-state properties of a polymer chain in an attractive sphere
1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig , Postfach 100 920, D-04009 Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
We analyze the structural formation of a polymer chain inside of an attractive sphere depending on the attraction strength. Our model is composed of a coarse-grained polymer and an attractive sphere potential. Within this frame, multicanonical Monte Carlo simulations are employed to identify the global minimum energies for a polymer chain interacting with the attractive inner wall of the sphere. Different compact structures are found with varying attraction strengths, among which are spherical, three/two, or monolayer. The conformational properties of these structures are presented.
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