Related papers: Ring closure in actin polymers
Topologically constrained genome-like polymers often double-fold into tree-like configurations. Here we calculate the exact number of tightly double-folded configurations available to a ring polymer in ideal conditions. For this purpose, we…
We present a statistical mechanical study of stiff polymers, motivated by experiments on actin filaments and the considerable current interest in polymer networks. We obtain simple, approximate analytical forms for the force-extension…
Here, we provide an overview of theoretical approaches to semiflexible polymers and their networks. Such semiflexible polymers have large bending rigidities that can compete with the entropic tendency of a chain to crumple up into a random…
Motivated by recent experiments showing nonlinear elasticity of in vitro networks of the biopolymer actin cross-linked with filamin, we present an effective medium theory of flexibly cross-linked stiff polymer networks. We model such…
We study the probability that the product of two randomly chosen elements in a finite ring $R$ is equal to some fixed element $x \in R$. We calculate this probability for semisimple rings and some special classes of local rings, and find…
I propose a variation of the standard worm--like chain model to account for internal order parameter (helix/coil) fields on the polymer chain. This internal order parameter field influences polymer conformational statistics by locally…
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…
Active polymers play a central role in many biological systems, from bacterial flagella to cellular cytoskeletons. Minimal models of semiflexible active filaments have been used to study a variety of interesting phenomena in active systems,…
The present paper investigates the extension behavior of a wormlike chain with varied persistence length under the confinement of a cylindrical tube. Based on Odijk theory of a confined polymer chain, we have developed a theory which can…
Ring polymers exhibit unique flow properties due to their closed chain topology. Despite recent progress, we have not yet achieved a full understanding of the nonequilibrium flow behavior of rings in nondilute solutions where intermolecular…
We probed the bending of actin subject to external forcing and viscous drag. Single actin filaments were moved perpendicular to their long axis in an oscillatory way by means of an optically tweezed latex bead attached to one end of the…
We investigate the conformations of a semiflexible polymer confined to a square box. Results of Monte Carlo simulations show the existence of a shape transition when the persistence length of the polymer becomes comparable to the dimensions…
The tube model is a central concept in polymer physics, and allows to reduce the complex many-filament problem of an entangled polymer solution to a single filament description. We investigate the probability distribution function of…
The reorientation dynamics of local tangent vectors of chains in isotropic amorphous melts containing semiflexible model polymers was studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The reorientation is strongly influenced both by the local…
We develop off-lattice simulations of semiflexible polymer chains subjected to applied mechanical forces using Markov Chain Monte Carlo. Our approach models the polymer as a chain of fixed-length bonds, with configurations updated through…
Force versus extension curves measure entropic elasticity of single polymer chain in force spectroscopy experiments. A Worm-like Chain model is used to describe force extension experiments with an intrinsic chain parameter called…
We consider the lattice model for an ideal-linear polymer chain to mimic the conformations of the semi-flexible homo-polymer chain. The polymer chain is assumed to confine in the fairly small area, such that the flexible chain conformations…
Arguments are presented to the effect that embedding semi-flexible (wormlike) ideal polymers into a fluctuating, flexible surface leads to an effective attractive orientational interaction between polymer segments that precipitates an…
In this work we obtain wrapping probabilities for Ising spin clusters on a torus. We use the analogy with the tricritical point of a Potts model with dilution. The formula obtained are tested against numerical simulation. We also provide…
The size of rings (also called cyclic polymers) in bidisperse blends of chemically identical rings is analyzed by computer simulations. Data of entangled ring blends and blends of interpenetrating rings are compared and it is shown that the…