Related papers: Actin filaments growing against a barrier with flu…
Here, we demonstrate that vacuum fluctuations can induce lateral forces on a small particle positioned near a translation-invariant uniform non-Hermitian substrate with chiral gain. This type of non-Hermitian response can be engineered by…
We investigate the dynamics of a single semiflexible filament, under the action of a compressing force, using numerical simulations and scaling arguments. The force is applied along the end to end vector at one extremity of the filament,…
The growth of cracks combines materials science, fracture mechanics, and statistical physics. The importance of fluctuations in the crack velocity is fundamental since it signals that the crack overcomes local barriers such as tough spots…
We use nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations to verify recent tube-model predictions that associative polymer networks exhibit broad stretch fluctuations during elongational flow. Simulations further show that these fluctuating…
Plant root growth is dramatically reduced in compacted soils, affecting the growth of the whole plant. Through a model experiment coupling force and kinematics measurements, we probed the force-growth relationship of a primary root…
Recent numerical works, including ours, lend credence to the thesis that ambient environment, i.e., external pressure, affects star-forming ability of clouds & filaments. In continuation with our series of papers on the subject we explore…
How cytoskeletal filaments collectively undergo growth and shrinkage is an intriguing question. Collective properties of multiple bio-filaments (actin or microtubules) undergoing hydrolysis, have not been studied extensively earlier, within…
We study the deformations of elastic filaments confined within slowly-shrinking circular boundaries, under contact forces with friction. We perform computations with a spring-lattice model that deforms like a thin inextensible filament of…
Polymers with active segments constitute prospective future materials and are used as a model for some biological systems such as chromatin. The directions of the active forces are typically introduced with temporal or spatial correlations…
The effect that an additional energy barrier E_{kr} for step adatoms moving around kinks has on equilibrium step edge fluctuations is explored using scaling arguments and kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. When mass transport is through step…
We propose algorithms for determining both lower and upper bounds for the energy barriers encountered by a flux line in moving through a two-dimensional random potential. Analytical arguments, supported by numerical simulations, suggest…
A living cell actively generates traction forces on its environment with its actin cytoskeleton. These forces deform the cell elastic substrate which, in turn, affects the traction forces exerted by the cell and can consequently modify the…
Experiments [1] have shown that auto-kirigami structures can grow on the surface of graphene because the graphene-graphene adhesion energy is greater than the graphene-substrate interaction. In this work molecular dynamics (MD) simulations…
The effect of thermal fluctuations near a contact line of a liquid interface partially wetting an impenetrable substrate is studied analytically and numerically. Promoting both the interface profile and the contact line position to random…
We investigate the conditions leading to large drag force fluctuations in granular materials. The study is based on a set of experimental drag tests, which involve pulling a plate vertically through a cohesionless granular material. In…
The adhesion bonds connecting a lipid bilayer to an underlying surface may undergo a condensation transition resulting from an interplay between a short range attractive potential between them, and a long range fluctuation-induced potential…
We show that in experimental atomic force microscopy studies of the lifetime distribution of mechanically stressed folded proteins the effects of externally applied fluctuations can not be distinguished from those of internally present…
A number of strange results have been reported for the twist elasticity of a semiflexible filament, actin. In particular dynamic and static methods for determining the torsional twist modulus give very different results. I show here that…
We propose a simple friction model for isolated polymer chains on a solid substrate. The chains are pulled at constant velocity by one end, the other end can be trapped on the solid substrate on localised sites. We focus on the energy…
Any macroscopic deformation of a filamentous bundle is necessarily accompanied by local sliding and/or stretching of the constituent filaments. Yet the nature of the sliding friction between two aligned filaments interacting through…