  The topological effects on the thermal properties of several knot
configurations are investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. In order to
check if the topology of the knots is preserved during the thermal fluctuations
we propose a method that allows very fast calculations and can be easily
applied to arbitrarily complex knots. As an application, the specific energy
and heat capacity of the trefoil, the figure-eight and the $8_1$ knots are
calculated at different temperatures and for different lengths. Short-range
repulsive interactions between the monomers are assumed. The knots
configurations are generated on a three-dimensional cubic lattice and sampled
by means of the Wang-Landau algorithm and of the pivot method. The obtained
results show that the topological effects play a key role for short-length
polymers. Three temperature regimes of the growth rate of the internal energy
of the system are distinguished.
