Related papers: Like-charge attraction and opposite-charge decompl…
Similarly-charged polymers in solution, known as polyelectrolytes, are known to form aggregated structures in the presence of oppositely charged counterions. Understanding the dependence of the equilibrium phases and the dynamics of the…
The osmotic coefficient of B-DNA in water may, in moderately dilute solutions, deviate as much as 100 % from predictions based on a simple 'counterion condensation' theory. We determine the results for osmotic properties via a cell model…
The efficiency of nanopore-based biosequencing techniques requires fast anionic polymer capture by like-charged pores followed by a prolonged translocation process. We show that this condition can be achieved by setting a pressure-solvation…
We investigate the ion distribution and overcharging at charged interfaces with dielectric inhomogeneities in the presence of asymmetric electrolytes containing polyvalent and monovalent ions. We formulate an effective "dressed counterion"…
The effective DNA-DNA interaction force is calculated by computer simulations with explicit tetravalent counterions and monovalent salt. For overcharged DNA molecules, the interaction force shows a double-minimum structure. The positions…
The phase separation of oppositely-charged polyelectrolytes in solution is of current interest . In this work we study the driving force for polyelectrolyte complexation using molecular dynamics simulations. We calculate the potential of…
This study investigates the interplay between Strong Coupling (SC) attraction and hydration repulsion in nanoconfined water between like-charged phospholipid layers. It challenges the assumption that SC attraction requires multivalent…
We determine the phase diagram of DNA with inter- and intra-strand native-pair interactions that mimic the compaction of DNA. We show that DNA takes an overall sheet-like structure in the region where an incipient transition to a compact…
We consider the statistical mechanics of a system of topologically linked polymers, such as for instance a dense solution of polymer rings. If the possible topological states of the system are distinguished using the Gauss linking number as…
We examine the effective counterion-mediated electrostatic interaction between two like-charged dielectric cylinders immersed in a continuous dielectric medium containing neutralizing mobile counterions. We focus on the effects of image…
We review recent advances in the physics of strongly interacting charged systems functioning in water at room temperature. We concentrate on the phenomena which go beyond the framework of mean field theories, whether linear Debye-Huckel or…
Blends of polymers of different topologies, such as ring and supercoiled, naturally occur in biology and often exhibit emergent viscoelastic properties coveted in industry. However, due to their complexity, along with the difficulty of…
The three-dimensional organization of chromatin is thought to play an important role in controlling gene expression. Specificity in expression is achieved through the interaction of transcription factors and other nuclear proteins with…
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…
Composites of flexible and rigid polymers are ubiquitous in biology and industry alike, yet the physical principles determining their mechanical properties are far from understood. Here, we couple force spectroscopy with large-scale…
We examine the effective force between two nanometer scale solutes in water by Molecular Dynamics simulations. Macroscopic considerations predict a strong reduction of the hydrophobic attraction between solutes when the latter are charged.…
Deformation of single stranded DNA in translocation process before reaching the pore is investigated. By solving the Laplace equation in a suitable coordinate system and with appropriate boundary conditions, an approximate solution for the…
When multivalent salts are added to dilute DNA solution, the DNA chains condense into bundles of a well-defined size. We explore two physical problems motivated by this phenomenon: the origin of the attractive interactions between the…
Mean-field theory is used to model polyelectrolyte adsorption and the possibility of overcompensation of charged surfaces. For charged surfaces that are also chemically attractive, the overcharging is large in high salt conditions,…
The electrodynamic response of DNA in the millimeter wave range is investigated. By performing measurements under a wide range of humidity conditions and comparing the response of single strand DNA and double strand DNA, we show that the…