MONTE-CARLO STUDY OF THE DYNAMICS OF STAR-BRANCHED POLYMERS

A uniform star-branched polymer model with f = 3 arms based on a simple cubic lattice was studied by means of the dynamic Monte Carlo method. The model chain is athermal with excluded-volume interactions and it is flexible. A new type of local micromodification was introduced to make the branching point movable. Static properties of the star polymer are in accordance with other theoretical predictions and experimental evidence. Scaling of the self-diffusion constant and the terminal relaxation times is close to those of the Rouse theory and to simulation results of linear chains.