Monte Carlo simulation of the glass transition in polymer melts: extended mode-coupling analysis

In this paper, we reanalyse the incoherent intermediate scattering function, determined by a Monte Carlo simulation of a polymer melt, in the framework of the extended mode-coupling theory (MCT). A previous analysis with the idealized MCT showed systematic deviations between theory and simulation at low temperatures, which could be qualitatively attributed to the neglect of hopping processes. If these hopping processes are taken into account quantitatively by the application of the extended MCT, the discrepancies at low temperatures disappear, and a (quite) accurate estimate of the critical temperature becomes possible.