5. Molecular simulation of polymers

Polymer chains within a plastic material assume an equilibrium configuration known as a statistical ball . Such an arrangement of chains can be compared to a "dish of spaghetti". This particular form of statistical pelota implies two important notions for characterizing the appearance of polymer chains and, subsequently, for being able to model the polymer material:

• the spherical shape of chains, implicit in the term pelota ;

• the statistical aspect.

What we mean by the term "statistical pelota" is that polymer chains adopt a very large number of configurations, each...