BEAD SPRING MODEL PREDICTIONS OF SOLUTION DYNAMICS FOR FLEXIBLE HOMOPOLYMERS INCORPORATING LONG-CHAIN BRANCHES AND OR RINGS

A generalization of the model of Zimm is presented which predicts solution dynamics for chains composed of any assortment of identical spherical beads connected by identical Hookean springs. The model is formulated in a coordinate system that translates with the chain to ensure that the predicted dynamic properties may be computed, regardless of chain size or degree of hydrodynamic interaction, with the efficient eigenvalue algorithm applied by A. S. Lodge and Y. Wu to linear chains. Several new block-diagonal matrices, which further improve the computation efficiency for linear ring, and regular H structures, also arise from this formulation.