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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
We describe how molecular dynamics simulations for a relatively simple coarse grained model can be very useful for investigating the static and dynamic properties of polymers and other macromolecular liquids. We show that it is important to use a simplified coarse grained model instead of a detailed microscopic model if one is interested in studying on modern supercomputers large systems which also relax slowly. As examples we present results for isolated star polymers with f-arms and diluted gelation/percolation clusters. We find in agreement with recent neutron scattering experiments that diluted percolation clusters swell and that their fractal dimension is reduced from 2.5 to 2. We also discuss our results for a dense melt of entangled linear polymers to show that the method is effective at high density. Our results for the entangled melt cover the crossover from Rouse to reptation and strongly support the concept of reptation.