Abstract
The distribution and relaxation of kinetic energy in a chain is investigated. The chain is composed of masses serially connected by springs. When the chain is at rest and surrounded with solvent, masses in the chain receive energy by collisions with solvent particles. If the spring constant k is large, the distribution of time-averaged energy of each particle is not uniform for some time; it is larger near the ends of the chain. The non-uniform distribution of kinetic energy is transient, and the system relaxes to the equipartition state. The relaxation time obeys for large k, which is a typical feature of Boltzmann–Jeans-type relaxation. The non-uniformity in energy distribution is due to the fact that when the spring constant k is large, the vibrational degrees of freedom in the chain are frozen. In that case, the system is dominated by rotational motion and the system behaves as if the masses are connected with rigid links, instead of springs.
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