The topological glass

Ring polymers represent one of the last major theoretical challenges facing polymer physics. The essential difficulty lies in the non- local nature of the topological constraint associated with polymers of fixed topology, such as rings (unknots), that cannot cross one-another. We perform molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of ring polymers and propose methods to identify inter-ring threadings. We find evidence of the emergence of a percolating cluster of inter-ring penetrations which we interpret a the onset of a jammed state that we call a topological glass.