Related papers: Spontaneous Unknotting of a Polymer Confined in a …
We consider the probability of knotting in equilateral random polygons in Euclidean 3-dimensional space, which model, for instance, random polymers. Results from an extensive Monte Carlo dataset of random polygons indicate a universal…
Using molecular dynamics simulations we study the static and dynamic properties of spherical nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a disordered and polydisperse polymer network. Purely repulsive (RNP) as well as weakly attractive (ANP) polymer-NP…
We investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of semiflexible polymers driven by motor proteins (MPs) in two-dimensional motility assays under harmonic confinement. Using a coarse-grained agent-based model that incorporates stochastic motor…
The non-equilibrium structural and dynamical properties of a flexible polymer tethered to a reflecting wall and subject to oscillatory linear flow are studied by numerical simulations. Polymer is confined in two dimensions and is modeled as…
We explore the effect of Couette flow on knotted linear polymer chains with extensive Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Hydrodynamic interactions are accounted for by means of Multi-Particle Collision Dynamics (MPCD). The polymer chain,…
Inspired by recent experiments on chromosomal dynamics, we introduce an exactly solvable model for the interaction between a flexible polymer and a set of motor-like enzymes. The enzymes can bind and unbind to specific sites of the polymer…
We explore the elastic behavior of a wormlike chain under compression in terms of exact solutions for the associated probability densities. Strikingly, the probability density for the end-to-end distance projected along the applied force…
We present a generic coarse-grained model to describe molecular motors acting on polymer substrates, mimicking, for example, RNA polymerase on DNA or kinesin on microtubules. The polymer is modeled as a connected chain of beads; motors are…
A ring polymer in a confining space may exhibit at least two phases, namely an expanded (or solvent-rich phase) if its concentration is small, or a collapsed (or polymer-rich phase) when it is concentrated and compressed. These phases are…
Experiments using nanofluidic devices have proven effective in characterizing the physical properties of polymers confined to small cavities. Two recent studies using such methods examined the organization and dynamics of two DNA molecules…
We consider an inextensible, semiflexible polymer or worm-like chain, with persistence length $P$ and contour length $L$, fluctuating in a cylindrical channel of diameter $D$. In the regime $D\ll P\ll L$, corresponding to a long, tightly…
We study the dynamics and conformation of polymers composed by active monomers. By means of Brownian dynamics simulations we show that when the direction of the self-propulsion of each monomer is aligned with the backbone, the polymer…
The non-linear response of entangled polymers to shear flow is complicated. Its current understanding is framed mainly as a rheological description in terms of the complex viscosity. However, the full picture requires an assessment of the…
We study the dynamics of flexible, semiflexible, and self-avoiding polymer chains moving under a Kramers metastable potential. Due to thermal noise, the polymers, initially placed in the metastable well, can cross the potential barrier, but…
Inspired by recent experiments on the spatial organization of bacterial chromosomes, we consider a type of "bottle brush" polymer consisting of a flexible backbone chain, to which flexible side loops are connected. We show that such a model…
We revisit the classical problem of a polymer confined in a slit in both of its static and dynamic aspects. We confirm a number of well known scaling predictions and analyse their range of validity by means of comprehensive Molecular…
Using analytical techniques and Langevin dynamics simulations, we investigate the dynamics of polymer translocation into a narrow channel of width $R$ embedded in two dimensions, driven by a force proportional to the number of monomers in…
We introduce a class of models of semiflexible polymers. The latter are characterized by a strong rigidity, the correlation length associated to the gradient-gradient correlations, called the persistence length, being of the same order as…
The endpoint distribution and dynamics of semiflexible fibers is studied by numerical simulation. A brief overview is given over the analytical theory of flexible and semiflexible polymers. In particular, a closed expression is given for…
We study numerically the tightness of prime flat knots in a model of self-attracting polymers with excluded volume. We find that these knots are localised in the high temperature swollen regime, but become delocalised in the low temperature…