THETA-STATE, TRANSITION CURVES, AND CONFORMATIONAL PROPERTIES OF CYCLIC CHAINS

We have performed a Monte Carlo study of dimensions and intrinsic visc osities for isolated three-dimensional cyclic chains of different leng ths in solution. These chains are modeled as a number of Gaussian unit s interacting through a 6-12 Lennard-Jones potential. The reduced ener gy in the potential well represents the thermodynamic quality of solve nt (or the reduced inverse temperature). From this study, the Theta st ate for this model has been characterized. Then, transition curves and scaling plots have been obtained. Using extrapolations to the long ch ain limit, different conformational parameters have been estimated and compared with existing experimental data.