We
study the collapse of a linear bead-spring chain under a sudden
quench in solvent conditions using explicit-solvent dissipative particle dynamics. We
investigate the collapse stages of our 50 ≤ N ≤ 1000 bead chains by studying local structures identified
by an extended clustering algorithm. We find evidence for the three
early stages proposed by Halperin and Goldbart [Phys. Rev.
E 2000, 61, 565–573]. Their apparent
scaling with the chain length is ∝N
0, N
0.82(6), and N
1.04(2). These values are similar to the predicted ones, and
deviations likely stem from the approximations made. The scaling of
the overall collapse time with the chain length τc ∝ N
0.94(2), the decay of the
squared radius of gyration (R
g
2(0) – R
g
2(t)) ∝ t
1.09(1), and the
growth of blobs along the chain ⟨Sn
⟩ ∝ t
1 are all found to
be approximately linear.
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