Related papers: Confinement of knotted polymers in a slit
The entropic pressure in the vicinity of a cubic lattice knot is examined as a model of the entropic pressure near a knotted ring polymer in a good solvent. A model for the scaling of the pressure is developed and this is tested numerically…
We consider the rupture dynamics of a homopolymer chain pulled at one end at a constant loading rate. Our model of the breakable polymer is related to the Rouse chain, with the only difference that the interaction between the monomers is…
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,…
We investigate the mechanical behavior of jammed knitted fabrics, where geometric confinement leads to an initially stiff mechanical response that softens into low stiffness behavior with additional applied stress. We show that the jammed…
The effect of a finite torque on semiflexible polymers in a confined environment is investigated. It is shown how a new lengthscale appears in the strongly confined limit. The influence of a torque on the extension of biopolymers in…
We study the entropic force due to a fluctuating semiflexible polymer that is grafted from one end and confined by a rigid and rough wall from the other end. We show how roughness of the wall modifies the entropic force. In addition to the…
Polymers are an effective test-bed for studying topological constraints in condensed matter due to a wide array of synthetically-available chain topologies. When linear and ring polymers are blended together, emergent rheological properties…
When injected through a contraction, high molecular weight polymer solutions exhibit a sharp increase of apparent viscosity which originates from stretching polymer chains above a critical extension rate. This chain stretching can also…
The conformational statistics of ring polymers in melts or dense solutions is strongly affected by their quenched microscopic topological state. The effect is particularly strong for non-concatenated unknotted rings, which are known to…
We present a numerical study of the effect of knotting on the ejection of flexible and semiflexible polymers from a spherical, virus-like capsid. The polymer ejection rate is primarily controlled by the knot, which moves to the hole in the…
By performing Monte Carlo sampling of $N$-steps self-avoiding polygons embedded on different Bravais lattices we explore the robustness of universality in the entropic, metric and geometrical properties of knotted polymer rings. In…
The non-equilibrium structural and dynamical properties of semiflexible polymers confined to two dimensions are investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Three different scenarios are considered: The force-extension relation of…
We give statistical definitions of the length, l, of a loose prime knot tied into a long, fluctuating ring macromolecule. Monte Carlo results for the equilibrium, good solvent regime show that < l > ~ N^t, where N is the ring length and t ~…
Using canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we introduce a new numerical procedure for comparing the entropic exponents of polymers with different constraints and/or topologies. Setting up competitions between polymer segments which can…
Using a combination of the replica-exchange Monte Carlo algorithm and the multicanonical method, we investigate the influence of bending stiffness on the conformational phases of a bead-stick homopolymer model and present the pseudo-phase…
A veritable zoo of different knots is seen in the ensemble of looped polymer chains, whether created computationally or observed in vitro. At short loop lengths, the spectrum of knots is dominated by the trivial knot (unknot). The…
Several nontrivial properties are shown for the mean square radius of gyration $R_K^2$ of ring polymers with a fixed knot type K. Through computer simulation, we discuss both finite-size and asymptotic behaviors of the gyration radius under…
Polymer composite materials are widely used for their exceptional mechanical properties, notably their ability to resist large deformations. Here we examine the failure stress and strain of rubbers reinforced by varying amounts of…
The molecular dynamics simulations were used to obtain the radius of gyration of real ring polymer chains with different topological structures consisting of 360 monomers. We focus on the entropic force which is exerted by a dilute solution…
When assessing the strength of sawn lumber for use in engineering applications, the sizes and locations of knots are an important consideration. Knots are the most common visual characteristics of lumber, that result from the growth of tree…