Anomalous Dynamics in Macromolecular Liquids

Abstract

Macromolecular liquids display short-time anomalous behaviors in disagreement with conventional single-molecule mean-field theories. In this study, we analyze the behavior of the simplest but most realistic macromolecular system that displays anomalous dynamics, i.e., a melt of short homopolymer chains, starting from molecular dynamics simulation trajectories. Our study sheds some light on the microscopic molecular mechanisms responsible for the observed anomalous behavior. The relevance of the correlation hole, a unique property of polymer liquids, in relation to the observed subdiffusive dynamics, naturally emerges from the analysis of the van Hove distribution functions and other properties.