Oleg A. Vasilyev 1, Sergei K. Nechaev 1, 2
Theoretical and Mathematical Physics 134 (2003) 142-159
We prove the fractal crumpled structure of collapsed unknotted polymer ring. In this state the polymer chain forms a system of densely packed folds, mutually separated in all scales. The proof is based on the numerical and analytical investigation of topological correlations in randomly generated dense knots on strips $L_{v} \times L_{h}$ of widths $L_{v}=3,5$. We have analyzed the conditional probability of the fact that a part of an unknotted chain is also almost unknotted. The complexity of dense knots and quasi–knots is characterized by the power $n$ of the Jones–Kauffman polynomial invariant. It is shown, that for long strips $L_{h} \gg L_{v}$ the knot complexity $n$ is proportional to the length of the strip $L_{h}$. At the same time, the typical complexity of the quasi–knot which is a part of trivial knot behaves as $n\sim \sqrt{L_{h}}$ and hence is significantly smaller. Obtained results show that topological state of any part of the trivial knot in a collapsed phase is almost trivial.
- 1. L.D.Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics,
Russian Academy of Sciences - 2. Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS),
CNRS : UMR8626 – Université Paris XI – Paris Sud