  A method for reconstructing the energy landscape of simple polypeptidic
chains is described. We show that we can construct an equivalent representation
of the energy landscape by a suitable directed graph. Its topological and
dynamical features are shown to yield an effective estimate of the time scales
associated with the folding and with the equilibration processes. This
conclusion is drawn by comparing molecular dynamics simulations at constant
temperature with the dynamics on the graph, defined by a temperature dependent
Markov process. The main advantage of the graph representation is that its
dynamics can be naturally renormalized by collecting nodes into "hubs", while
redefining their connectivity. We show that both topological and dynamical
properties are preserved by the renormalization procedure. Moreover, we obtain
clear indications that the heteropolymers exhibit common topological
properties, at variance with the homopolymer, whose peculiar graph structure
stems from its spatial homogeneity. In order to obtain a clear distinction
between a "fast folder" and a "slow folder" in the heteropolymers one has to
look at kinetic features of the directed graph. We find that the average time
needed to the fast folder for reaching its native configuration is two orders
of magnitude smaller than its equilibration time, while for the bad folder
these time scales are comparable. Accordingly, we can conclude that the
strategy described in this paper can be successfully applied also to more
realistic models, by studying their renormalized dynamics on the directed
graph, rather than performing lengthy molecular dynamics simulations.
