Computer simulation of self-avoiding walks: Testing the scanning method

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Abstract
The scanning method is a computer simulation technique for macromolecules suggested recently. The method is described here in detail and its applicability (in contrast to other simulation techniques) to a wide range of chain models is discussed. It is argued that for most of these models the scanning method constitutes the most efficient tool for estimating the entropy. The method is applied to self‐avoiding walks (SAWs) (of N≤399 steps) on both a three‐choice square lattice and a five‐choice simple cubic lattice and the results for the entropy, the end‐to‐end distance, the radius of gyration, and other quantities of interest are found to be in very good agreement with the results obtained by other numerical techniques. In particular, our calculations support the law of divergence for the persistence length of SAWs on two‐dimensional lattices suggested recently by Grassberger. However, for the simple cubic lattice, the persistence length is found by us to be constant.