Related papers: Protein viscoelastic dynamics: a model system
With potential relevance to biomechanics, an interesting problem in statistical mechanics not previously solved is a binary mechanical model system. Discrete chemical states of proteins are often associated with discrete metastable…
The evolution of effective force chains percolating through a compressed granular system is investigated. We performed experiments by compressing an ensemble of spherical particles in a cylindrical container monitoring the macroscopic…
In this work, we investigate the dynamics of interacting particle systems subjected to repulsive forces, such as lattices of magnetized particles. To this end, we first develop a general model capable of capturing the complete dynamical…
We study the enzymatic degradation of an elastic fiber under tension using an an isotropic random-walk model, coupled with binding-unbinding reactions that weaken the fiber. The fiber is represented by a chain of elastic springs in series,…
Noise plays a fundamental role in a wide variety of physical and biological dynamical systems. It can arise from an external forcing or due to random dynamics internal to the system. It is well established that even weak noise can result in…
Confined granular fluids, placed in a shallow box that is vibrated vertically, can achieve homogeneous stationary states thanks to energy injection mechanisms that take place throughout the system. These states can be stable even at high…
We study the dynamics of a polymer that is pulled by a constant force through a viscoelastic medium. This is a model for a polymer being pulled through a cell by an external force, or for an active biopolymer moving due to a self generated…
Many complex systems respond to a continuous input of energy by an accumulation of stress over time, interrupted by sudden energy releases called avalanches. Recently, it has been pointed out that several basic features of avalanche…
Ultrathin polymer films that are produced e.g. by spin-coating are believed to be stressed since polymers are 'frozen in' into out-of-equilibrium configurations during this process. In the framework of a viscoelastic thin film model, we…
This thesis is about the study of complex systems through simple models. Our work evidences the relevance of this kind of modeling in science, which provides us with a better understanding of nature at minimum cost. The fundamentals tools…
We study an excitable active rotator with slowly adapting nonlinear feedback and noise. Depending on the adaptation and the noise level, this system may display noise-induced spiking, noise-perturbed oscillations, or stochastic busting. We…
Aeroelastic structures, from insect wings to wind turbine blades, experience transient unsteady aerodynamic loads that are coupled to their motion. Effective real-time control of flexible structures relies on accurate and efficient…
Inferring dynamical models from low-resolution temporal data continues to be a significant challenge in biophysics, especially within transcriptomics, where separating molecular programs from noise remains an important open problem. We…
This article studies typical dynamics and fluctuations for a slow-fast dynamical system perturbed by a small fractional Brownian noise. Based on an ergodic theorem with explicit rates of convergence, which may be of independent interest, we…
The apparently intractable shape of a fold in a compressed elastic film lying on a fluid substrate is found to have an exact solution. Such systems buckle at a nonzero wavevector set by the bending stiffness of the film and the weight of…
Molecular dynamics simulations of folding in an off-lattice protein model reveal a nucleation scenario, in which a few well-defined contacts are formed with high probability in the transition state ensemble of conformations. Their…
Experiments on the motion of a particle on an inclined rough plane have yielded some surprising results. For example, it was found that the frictional force acting on the ball is viscous, {\it i.e.} proportional to the velocity rather than…
Protein-stabilised emulsions can be seen as mixtures of unadsorbed proteins and of protein-stabilised droplets. To identify the contributions of these two components to the overall viscosity of sodium caseinate o/w emulsions, the…
The steady state motion of a folded pendulum has been studied using frequencies of drive that are mainly below the natural (resonance) frequency of the instrument. Although the free-decay of this mechanical oscillator appears textbook…
The overdamped dynamics of a particle is in general affected by its interaction with the surrounding medium, especially out of equilibrium, and when the latter develops spatial and temporal correlations. Here we consider the case in which…