Relaxation Dynamics of a Highly Stretched Single Polymer Chain in a Dilute Solution

For the relaxation of a highly stretched single polymer chain in dilute solutions of various solvent qualities , the relaxation dynamics was investigated through the methods of analytical theory and molecular dynamics ( MD ) simulation. To facilitate the comparison , the equilibrium and non -equilibrium routes were employed in the simulations , where the equilibrium route is performed by using the self -correlation function of related physical quantities. The reason for using the non -equilibrium route is that it is directly related to many practical processes , and the dynamic evolution of the scaling behavior between the relaxation time and normal modes can be present clearly. Consequently , it is found that at the initial stage of relaxation , some physical quantities would be influenced by the non- equilibrium initial state of the polymer chain , while after a certain time , the relaxation dynamics is consistent with that predicted the equilibrium state. Meanwhile , the two routes showed the same scaling behavior between the longest relaxation time and chain length. The non- equilibrium route is therefore helpful to investigate the relaxation process of a polymer chain , thereby giving more information of structure- property. It is expected that an effort can provide some useful clues to pertinent topics.