This book contains contributions from a workshop on topology and geometry of polymers, held at the IMA in June 1996, which brought together topologists, combinatorialists, theoretical physicists and polymer scientists, with a common interest in polymer topology. Polymers can be highly self-entangled even in dilute solution. In the melt the inter- and intra-chain entanglements can dominate the rheological properties of these phenomena. Although the possibility of knotting in ring polymers has been recognized for more than thirty years it is only recently that the powerful methods of algebraic topology have been used in treating models of polymers. This book contains a series of chapters which review the current state of the field and give an up to date account of what is known and perhaps more importantly, what is still unknown. The field abounds with open problems. The book is of interest to workers in polymer statistical mechanics but will also be useful as an introduction to topological methods for polymer scientists, and will introduce mathematicians to an area of science where topological approaches are making a substantial contribution.

Polymers occur in many different states and their physical properties are strongly correlated with their conformations. The theoretical investigation of the conformational properties of polymers is a difficult task and numerical methods play an important role in this field. This book contains contributions from a workshop on numerical methods for polymeric systems, held at the IMA in May 1996, which brought together chemists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists and statisticians with a common interest in numerical methods. The two major approaches used in the field are molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods, and the book includes reviews of both approaches as well as applications to particular polymeric systems. The molecular dynamics approach solves the Newtonian equations of motion of the polymer, giving direct information about the polymer dynamics as well as about static properties. The Monte Carlo approaches discussed in this book all involve sampling along a Markov chain defined on the configuration space of the system. An important feature of the book is the treatment of Monte Carlo methods, including umbrella sampling and multiple Markov chain methods, which are useful for strongly interacting systems such as polymers at low temperatures and in compact phases. The book is of interest to workers in polymer statistical mechanics and also to a wider audience interested in numerical methods and their application in polymeric systems.

Polymers occur in many different states and their physical properties are strongly correlated with their conformations. The theoretical investigation of the conformational properties of polymers is a difficult task and numerical methods play an important role in this field. This book contains contributions from a workshop on numerical methods for polymeric systems, held at the IMA in May 1996, which brought together chemists, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists and statisticians with a common interest in numerical methods. The two major approaches used in the field are molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo methods, and the book includes reviews of both approaches as well as applications to particular polymeric systems. The molecular dynamics approach solves the Newtonian equations of motion of the polymer, giving direct information about the polymer dynamics as well as about static properties. The Monte Carlo approaches discussed in this book all involve sampling along a Markov chain defined on the configuration space of the system. An important feature of the book is the treatment of Monte Carlo methods, including umbrella sampling and multiple Markov chain methods, which are useful for strongly interacting systems such as polymers at low temperatures and in compact phases. The book is of interest to workers in polymer statistical mechanics and also to a wider audience interested in numerical methods and their application in polymeric systems.

This book contains contributions from a workshop on topology and geometry of polymers, held at the IMA in June 1996, which brought together topologists, combinatorialists, theoretical physicists and polymer scientists, with a common interest in polymer topology. Polymers can be highly self-entangled even in dilute solution. In the melt the inter- and intra-chain entanglements can dominate the rheological properties of these phenomena. Although the possibility of knotting in ring polymers has been recognized for more than thirty years it is only recently that the powerful methods of algebraic topology have been used in treating models of polymers. This book contains a series of chapters which review the current state of the field and give an up to date account of what is known and perhaps more importantly, what is still unknown. The field abounds with open problems. The book is of interest to workers in polymer statistical mechanics but will also be useful as an introduction to topological methods for polymer scientists, and will introduce mathematicians to an area of science where topological approaches are making a substantial contribution.