EXACT RESULTS FOR THE EFFECT OF BOND FLEXIBILITY ON THE STRUCTURE ANDTHE COLLAPSE TRANSITION OF ISOLATED SQUARE-WELL TRIMERS

Exact results are obtained for isolated, freely jointed, square-well t rimers bonded with an infinitely deep square-well potential. Bond flex ibility is found to have small but detectable effects on structural an d thermodynamic properties. A larger chain size, a higher heat capacit y, and a sharper collapse transition with a lower transition temperatu re are observed for a flexibly bonded chain, relative to an infinitely stiff trimer.