Monte Carlo SImulation of Polymers: Coarse-Grained Models

Abstract

A coarse-grained simulation model eliminates microscopic degrees of freedom and represents a polymer by a simplified structure. A priori, two classes of coarse-grained models may be distinguished: those which are designed for a specific polymer and reflect the underlying atomistic details to some extent, and those which retain only the most basic features of a polymer chain (chain connectivity, short-range excluded-volume interactions, etc.). In this review we mainly focus on the second class of generic polymer models, while the first class of specific coarse-grained models is only touched upon briefly.

57 pages, 19 figures, conference proceedings: Computational Soft Matter: From Synthetic Polymers to Proteins, edited by N. Attig et al. (NIC Series, Volume 23, Juelich, 2004), pp. 83-140