The surface critical behaviour of the interacting self-avoiding trail is examined using transfer matrix methods coupled with finite-size scaling. Particular attention is paid to the critical exponents at the ordinary and special points along the collapse transition line. The phase diagram is also presented.
A generalised model for interacting self-avoiding trails on the square lattice is presented and studied using numerical transfer matrix methods. The model differentiates between on-site double visits corresponding to collisions, and crossings. Rigidity is also included in the model. The model includes the Nienhuis O(n=0) model and the interacting self-avoiding trail model as special cases. It is shown that the generic type of collapse found is the same as the pure interacting self-avoiding trail model.
The collapse transition of an isolated polymer has been modelled by many different approaches, including lattice models based on self-avoiding walks and self-avoiding trails. In two dimensions, previous simulations of kinetic growth trails, which map to a particular temperature of interacting self-avoiding trails, showed markedly different behaviour for what was argued to be the collapse transition than that which has been verified for models based of self-avoiding walks. On the other hand, it has been argued that kinetic growth trails represent a special simulation that does not give the corr…
We find the generating function of self-avoiding walks and trails on a semi-regular lattice called the $3.12^2$ lattice in terms of the generating functions of simple graphs, such as self-avoiding walks, polygons and tadpole graphs on the hexagonal lattice. Since the growth constant for these graphs is known on the hexagonal lattice we can find the growth constant for both walks and trails on the $3.12^2$ lattice. A result of Watson then allows us to find the generating function and growth constant of neighbour-avoiding walks on the covering lattice of the $3.12^2$ lattice which is tetra-valen…
Kinetic self-avoiding trails are introduced and used to generate a substrate of randomly quenched flow vectors. Sandpile model is studied on such a substrate with asymmetric toppling matrices where the precise balance between the net outflow of grains from a toppling site and the total inflow of grains to the same site when all its neighbors topple once is maintained at all sites. Within numerical accuracy this model behaves in the same way as the multiscaling BTW model.
Results of a numerically exact transfer matrix calculation for the model of Interacting Self-Avoiding Trails are presented. The results lead to the conclusion that, at the collapse transition, Self-Avoiding Trails are in the same universality class as the O(n=0) model of Blote and Nienhuis (or vertex-interacting self-avoiding walk), which has thermal exponent $ν=12/23$, contrary to previous conjectures.
The study of the effect of random impurities on the collapse of a flexible polymer in dilute solution has had recent attention with consideration of semi-stiff interacting self-avoiding walks on the square lattice. In the absence of impurities the model displays two types of collapsed phase, one of which is both anisotropically ordered and maximally dense (crystal-like). In the presence of impurities the study showed that the crystal type phase disappears. Here we investigate extended interacting self-avoiding trails on the triangular lattice with random impurities. Without impurities this mod…
Motivated by recent claims of a proof that the length scale exponent for the end-to-end distance scaling of self-avoiding walks is precisely $7/12=0.5833...$, we present results of large-scale simulations of self-avoiding walks and self-avoiding trails with repulsive contact interactions on the hypercubic lattice. We find no evidence to support this claim; our estimate $ν=0.5874(2)$ is in accord with the best previous results from simulations.
The coil-globule transition of an isolated polymer has been well established to be a second-order phase transition described by a standard tricritical O(0) field theory. We present Monte-Carlo simulations of interacting self-avoiding walks and interacting self-avoiding trails in four dimensions which provide compelling evidence that the approach to this (tri)critical point is dominated by the build-up of first-order-like singularities masking the second-order nature of the coil-globule transition.
Self-avoiding walks and self-avoiding trails, two models of a polymer coil in dilute solution, have been shown to be governed by the same universality class. On the other hand, self-avoiding walks interacting via nearest-neighbour contacts (ISAW) and self-avoiding trails interacting via multiply-visited sites (ISAT) are two models of the coil-globule, or collapse transition of a polymer in dilute solution. On the square lattice it has been established numerically that the collapse transition of each model lies in a different universality class. The models differ in two substantial ways. They d…
We consider a model of semi-flexible interacting self-avoiding trails (sISAT's) on a lattice, where the walks are constrained to visit each lattice edge at most once. Such models have been studied as an alternative to the self-attracting self-avoiding walks (SASAW) to investigate the collapse transition of polymers, with the attractive interactions being on site, as opposed to nearest-neighbor interactions in SASAW. The grand-canonical version of the sISAT model is solved on a four-coordinated Bethe lattice, and four phases appear: non-polymerized (NP), regular polymerized (P), dense polymeriz…
We investigate the surface adsorption transition of interacting self-avoiding square lattice trails onto a straight boundary line. The character of this adsorption transition depends on the strength of the bulk interaction, which induces a collapse transition of the trails from a swollen to a collapsed phase, separated by a critical state. If the trail is in the critical state, the universality class of the adsorption transition changes; this is known as the special adsorption point. Using flatPERM, a stochastic growth Monte Carlo algorithm, we simulate the adsorption of self-avoiding interact…
We have simulated four-dimensional interacting self-avoiding trails (ISAT) on the hyper-cubic lattice with standard interactions at a wide range of temperatures up to length 4096 and at some temperatures up to length 16384. The results confirm the earlier prediction (using data from a non-standard model at a single temperature) of a collapse phase transition occurring at finite temperature. Moreover they are in accord with the phenomenological theory originally proposed by Lifshitz, Grosberg and Khokhlov in three dimensions and recently given new impetus by its use in the description of simula…
We study by computer simulation a recently introduced generalised model of self-interacting self-avoiding trails on the square lattice that distinguishes two topologically different types of self-interaction: namely crossings where the trail passes across itself and collisions where the lattice path visits the same site without crossing. This model generalises the canonical interacting self-avoiding trail model of polymer collapse which has a strongly divergent specific heat at its transition point. We confirm the recent prediction that the asymmetry does not affect the universality class for …
Self-avoiding walks self-interacting via nearest neighbours (ISAW) and self-avoiding trails interacting via multiply-visited sites (ISAT) are two models of the polymer collapse transition of a polymer in dilute solution. On the square lattice it has been established numerically that the collapse transition of each model lies in a different universality class. It has been shown that by adding stiffness to the ISAW model a second low temperature phase eventuates and a more complicated phase diagram ensues with three types of transition that meet at a multi-critical point. For large enough stiffn…
We investigate neighbor-avoiding walks on the simple cubic lattice in the presence of an adsorbing surface. This class of lattice paths has been less studied using Monte Carlo simulations. Our investigation follows on from our previous results using self-avoiding walks and self-avoiding trails. The connection is that neighbor-avoiding walks are equivalent to the infinitely repulsive limit of self-avoiding walks with monomer-monomer interactions. Such repulsive interactions can be seen to enhance the excluded volume effect. We calculate the critical behavior of the adsorption transition for nei…
We study the interacting self-avoiding trail (ISAT) model on a Bethe lattice of general coordination $q$ and on a Husimi lattice built with squares and coordination $q=4$. The exact grand-canonical solutions of the model are obtained, considering that up to $K$ monomers can be placed on a site and associating a weight $ω_i$ for a $i$-fold visited site. Very rich phase diagrams are found with non-polymerized (NP), regular polymerized (P) and dense polymerized (DP) phases separated by lines (or surfaces) of continuous and discontinuous transitions. For Bethe lattice with $q=4$ and $K=2$, the col…
We study a model of semi-flexible self-avoiding trails, where the lattice paths are constrained to visit each lattice edge at most once, with configurations weighted by the number of collisions, crossings and bends, on a Husimi lattice built with squares. We find a rich phase diagram with five phases: a non-polymerised phase (${\bf NP}$), low density (${\bf P1}$) and high density (${\bf P2}$) polymerised phases, and, for sufficiently large stiffness, two additional anisotropic (nematic) (${\bf AN1}$ and ${\bf AN2}$) polymerised phases within the ${\bf P1}$ phase. Moreover, the {\bf AN1} phase …
The phase diagram and surface critical behaviour of the vertex-interacting self-avoiding walk are examined using transfer matrix methods extended using DMRG and coupled with finite-size scaling. Particular attention is paid to the critical exponents at the ordinary and special points along the collapse transition line. The question of the bulk exponents ($ν$ and $γ$) is addressed, and the results found are at variance with previously conjectured exact values.
The phase diagram for the bond-interacting self-avoiding walk is calculated using transfer matrices on finite strips. The model is shown to have a richer phase diagram than the related $Θ$-point model. In addition to the standard collapse transition, we conjecture the existence of a line of transitions in the Berezinskii--Kosterlitz--Thouless (BKT) universality class, terminating in a critical end point. Our results are in contradiction with a previous transfer matrix calculation by Machado K D, de Oliveira M J and Stilck J F 2001 {\em Phys Rev E} {\bf 64} 051810.
The phase diagram for a two-dimensional self-avoiding walk model on the square lattice incorporating attractive short-ranged interactions between parallel sections of walk is derived using numerical transfer matrix techniques. The model displays a collapse transition. In contrast to the standard $θ$-point model, the transition is first order. The phase diagram in the full fugacity-temperature plane displays an additional transition line, when compared to the $θ$-point model, as well as a critical transition at finite temperature in the hamiltonian walk limit.
The critical behaviour of directed self-avoiding walks is studied on parabolic-like systems with a free boundary at x=\pm Ct^α. Using a scaling argument, 1/C is shown to be a marginal variable when α=ν_\perp/ν_\parallel=1/2, i.e., on a parabola. As a consequence the directed walk may display varying local exponents. Such a behaviour is indeed observed for restricted walks. This generalizes a result of Cardy showing that nonuniversal behaviour occurs at corners for isotropic systems.
The phase diagram and critical behaviour of a simple toy model for DNA zipping/unzipping is examined in the framework of the Bethe approximation. The effects of solvent quality are included, and found to lead to a variety of different thermodynamic behaviours.
We have investigated a polymer growth process on the triangular lattice where the configurations produced are self-avoiding trails. We show that the scaling behaviour of this process is similar to the analogous process on the square lattice. However, while the square lattice process maps to the collapse transition of the canonical interacting self-avoiding trail model (ISAT) on that lattice, the process on the triangular lattice model does not map to the canonical equilibrium model. On the other hand, we show that the collapse transition of the canonical ISAT model on the triangular lattice be…
We study via Monte Carlo simulation a generalisation of the so-called vertex interacting self-avoiding walk (VISAW) model on the square lattice. The configurations are actually not self-avoiding walks but rather restricted self-avoiding trails (bond avoiding paths) which may visit a site of the lattice twice provided the path does not cross itself: to distinguish this subset of trails we shall call these configurations \emph{grooves}. Three distinct interactions are added to the configurations: firstly the VISAW interaction, which is associated with doubly visited sites, secondly a nearest nei…
In the framework of Husimi and Bethe lattices, we investigate a generalized polymer model that incorporates as special cases different models previously studied in the literature, namely, the standard interacting self-avoiding walk, the interacting self-avoiding trail, and the vertex-interacting self-avoiding walk. These models are characterized by different microscopic interactions, giving rise, in the two-dimensional case, to collapse transitions of an apparently different nature. We expect that our results, even though of a mean-field type, could provide some useful information to elucidate…
Trails (bond-avoiding walks) provide an alternative lattice model of polymers to self-avoiding walks, and adding self-interaction at multiply visited sites gives a model of polymer collapse. Recently, a two-dimensional model (triangular lattice) where doubly and triply visited sites are given different weights was shown to display a rich phase diagram with first and second order collapse separated by a multi-critical point. A kinetic growth process of trails (KGT) was conjectured to map precisely to this multi-critical point. Two types of low temperature phases, globule and crystal-like, were …
There have been separate studies of the polymer collapse transition, where the collapse was induced by two different types of attraction. In each case, the configurations of the polymer were given by the same subset of random walks being self-avoiding trails on the square lattice. Numerical evidence shows that when interacting via nearest-neighbour contacts, this transition is different from the collapse transition in square-lattice trails interacting via multiply visited sites. While both transitions are second-order, when interacting via nearest-neighbour contacts, the transition is relative…
In two dimensions polymer collapse has been shown to be complex with multiple low temperature states and multi-critical points. Recently, strong numerical evidence has been provided for a long-standing prediction of universal scaling of winding angle distributions, where simulations of interacting self-avoiding walks show that the winding angle distribution for N-step walks is compatible with the theoretical prediction of a Gaussian with a variance growing asymptotically as C log N . Here we extend this work by considering interacting self-avoiding trails which are believed to be a model repre…
We consider self-avoiding walks terminally attached to a surface at which they can adsorb. A force is applied, normal to the surface, to desorb the walk and we investigate how the behaviour depends on the vertex of the walk at which the force is applied. We use rigorous arguments to map out some features of the phase diagram, including bounds on the locations of some phase boundaries, and we use Monte Carlo methods to make quantitative predictions about the locations of these boundaries and the nature of the various phase transitions.
We study a special case of the Brauer model in which every path of the model has weight q=1. The model has been studied before as a solvable lattice model and can be viewed as a Lorentz lattice gas. The paths of the model are also called self-avoiding trails. We consider the model in a triangle with boundary conditions such that one of the trails must cross the triangle from a corner to the opposite side. Motivated by similarities between this model, SLE(6) and critical percolation, we investigate the distribution of the hull generated by this trail (the set of points on or surrounded by the t…
Various interacting lattice path models of polymer collapse in two dimensions demonstrate different critical behaviours. This difference has been without a clear explanation. The collapse transition has been variously seen to be in the Duplantier-Saleur $θ$-point university class (specific heat cusp), the interacting trail class (specific heat divergence) or even first-order. Here we study via Monte Carlo simulation a generalisation of the Duplantier-Saleur model on the honeycomb lattice and also a generalisation of the so-called vertex-interacting self-avoiding walk model (configurations are …
Exactly solvable models of planar polygons, weighted by perimeter and area, have deepened our understanding of the critical behaviour of polygon models in recent years. Based on these results, we derive a conjecture for the exact form of the critical scaling function for planar self-avoiding polygons. The validity of this conjecture was recently tested numerically using exact enumeration data for small values of the perimeter on the square and triangular lattices. We have substantially extended these enumerations and also enumerated polygons on the hexagonal lattice. We also performed Monte-Ca…
We study the inflated phase of two dimensional lattice polygons, both convex and column-convex, with fixed area A and variable perimeter, when a weight μ^t \exp[- Jb] is associated to a polygon with perimeter t and b bends. The mean perimeter is calculated as a function of the fugacity μand the bending rigidity J. In the limit μ-> 0, the mean perimeter has the asymptotic behaviour \avg{t}/4 \sqrt{A} \simeq 1 - K(J)/(\ln μ)^2 + O (μ/ \ln μ) . The constant K(J) is found to be the same for both types of polygons, suggesting that self-avoiding polygons should also exhibit the same asymptotic behav…
We explore the critical behaviour of two and three dimensional lattice models of polymers in dilute solution where the monomers carry a magnetic moment which interacts ferromagnetically with near-neighbour monomers. Specifically, the model explored consists of a self-avoiding walk on a square or cubic lattice with Ising spins on the visited sites. In three dimensions we confirm and extend previous numerical work, showing clearly the first-order character of both the magnetic transition and polymer collapse, which happen together. We present results for the first time in two dimensions, where t…
We study self-avoiding walks on the four-dimensional hypercubic lattice via Monte Carlo simulations of walks with up to one billion steps. We study the expected logarithmic corrections to scaling, and find convincing evidence in support the scaling form predicted by the renormalization group, with an estimate for the power of the logarithmic factor of 0.2516(14), which is consistent with the predicted value of 1/4. We also characterize the behaviour of the pivot algorithm for sampling four-dimensional self-avoiding walks, and conjecture that the probability of a pivot move being successful for…
A lattice model of the directed self-avoiding walk is used to estimate the possibility on the formation of an infinitely long linear semi-flexible copolymer chain. The copolymer chain is assumed to composed of four different types of the monomers. A method of the recursion relations is used to solve the proposed model analytically to show that the probability of the formation of a self-avoiding semi-flexible copolymer chain is independent of the stiffness of the chain. It is a distinct result from our earlier study on the formation of a Gaussian semi-flexible copolymer chain and the Gaussian c…
Using data on the Berlin public transport network, the present study extends previous observations of fractality within public transport routes by showing that also the distribution of inter-station distances along routes displays non-trivial power law behaviour. This indicates that the routes may in part also be described as Lévy-flights. The latter property may result from the fact that the routes are planned to adapt to fluctuating demand densities throughout the served area. We also relate this to optimization properties of Lévy flights.
Recently, it has been proposed that the adsorption transition for a single polymer in dilute solution, modeled by lattice walks in three dimensions, is not universal with respect to inter-monomer interactions. It has also been conjectured that key critical exponents $ϕ$, measuring the growth of the contacts with the surface at the adsorption point, and $1/δ$, which measures the finite-size shift of the critical temperature, are not the same. However, applying standard scaling arguments the two key critical exponents should be identical, thus pointing to a potential breakdown of these standard …
We have studied self-avoiding walks contained within an $L \times L$ square whose end-points can lie anywhere within, or on, the boundaries of the square. We prove that such walks behave, asymptotically, as walks crossing a square (WCAS), being those walks whose end-points lie at the south-east and north-west corners of the square. We provide numerical data, enumerating all such walks, and analyse the sequence of coefficients in order to estimate the asymptotic behaviour. We also studied a subset of these walks, those that must contain at least one edge on all four boundaries of the square. We…
We numerically investigate the influence of self-attraction on the critical behaviour of a polymer in two dimensions, by means of an analysis of finite-size results of transfer-matrix calculations. The transfer matrix is constructed on the basis of the O($n$) loop model in the limit $n \to 0$. It yields finite-size results for the magnetic correlation length of systems with a cylindrical geometry. A comparison with the predictions of finite-size scaling enables us to obtain information about the phase diagram as a function of the chemical potential of the loop segments and the strength of the …
We show how the theory of the critical behaviour of $d$-dimensional polymer networks gives a scaling relation for self-avoiding {\em bridges} that relates the critical exponent for bridges $γ_b$ to that of terminally-attached self-avoiding arches, $γ_{1,1},$ and the {correlation} length exponent $ν.$ We find $γ_b = γ_{1,1}+ν.$ We provide compelling numerical evidence for this result in both two- and three-dimensions. Another subset of SAWs, called {\em worms}, are defined as the subset of SAWs whose origin and end-point have the same $x$-coordinate. We give a scaling relation for the correspon…
We examine self-avoiding walks in dimensions 4 to 8 using high-precision Monte-Carlo simulations up to length N=16384, providing the first such results in dimensions $d > 4$ on which we concentrate our analysis. We analyse the scaling behaviour of the partition function and the statistics of nearest-neighbour contacts, as well as the average geometric size of the walks, and compare our results to $1/d$-expansions and to excellent rigorous bounds that exist. In particular, we obtain precise values for the connective constants, $μ_5=8.838544(3)$, $μ_6=10.878094(4)$, $μ_7=12.902817(3)$, $μ_8=14.9…
We show that the compact self avoiding walk configurations, kinetically generated by the recently introduced Interacting Growth Walk (IGW) model, can be considered as members of a canonical ensemble if they are assigned random values of energy. Such a mapping is necessary for studying the thermodynamic behaviour of this system. We have presented the specific heat data for the IGW, obtained from extensive simulations on a square lattice; we observe a broad hump in the specific heat above the $θ$-point, contrary to expectation.
We study the problem of critical adsorption of piecewise directed random walks on a boundary of fractal lattices that belong to the Sierpinski gasket family. By applying the exact real space renormalization group method, we calculate the crossover exponent $ϕ$, associated with the number of adsorbed steps, for the complete fractal family. We demonstrate that our results are very close to the results obtained for ordinary self-avoiding walk, and discuss the asymptotic behaviour of $ϕ$ at the fractal to Euclidean lattice crossover.
We consider a self-avoiding walk model of polymer adsorption where the adsorbed polymer can be desorbed by the application of a force, concentrating on the case of the square lattice. Using series analysis methods we investigate the behaviour of the free energy of the system when there is an attractive potential $ε$ with the surface and a force $f$ applied at the last vertex, normal to the surface, and extract the phase boundary between the ballistic and adsorbed phases. We believe this to be exact to graphical accuracy. We give precise estimates of the location of the transition from the free…
In this work, we present a simple and efficient generator of polymeric linear chains, based on a random self-avoiding walk process. The chains are generated using a discrete process of growth, in cubic networks and in a finite time, without border limits and without exploring all the configurational space. First, we thoroughly describe the chains morphology exploring the statistics of two characteristic distances, the radius of gyration and the end-to-end distance. Moreover, we examine the dependence of mean characteristic distances with the number of steps (N). Despite the simplicity of our p…
Using extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the surface adsorption of self-avoiding trails on the triangular lattice with two- and three-body on-site monomer-monomer interactions. In the parameter space of two-body, three-body, and surface interaction strengths, the phase diagram displays four phases: swollen (coil), globule, crystal, and adsorbed. For small values of the surface interaction, we confirm the presence of swollen, globule, and crystal bulk phases. For sufficiently large values of the surface interaction, the system is in an adsorbed state, and the adsorption transitio…
A model of self-avoiding walk with suitable constraints on self-attraction is developed to describe the conformational behaviour of a single stranded short DNA molecule that form hairpin structure. Using exact enumeration method we calculate the properties associated with coil-hairpin transition. Our results are in qualitative agreement with the experiment.
We have analysed the recently extended series for the number of self-avoiding walks (SAWs) $C_L(1)$ that cross an $L \times L$ square between diagonally opposed corners. The number of such walks is known to grow as $λ_S^{L^2}.$ We have made more precise the estimate of $λ_S,$ based on additional series coefficients provided by several authors, and refined analysis techniques. We estimate that $λ_S = 1.7445498 \pm 0.0000012.$ We have also studied the subdominant behaviour, and conjecture that $$ C_L(1) \sim λ_S^{L^2+bL+c}\cdot L^g,$$ where $b=-0.04354 \pm 0.0001,$ $c=0.5624 \pm 0.0005,$ and $g=…