Related papers: Knots are Generic Stable Phases in Semiflexible Po…
In the framework of a lattice-model study of protein folding, we investigate the interplay between designability, thermodynamic stability, and kinetics. To be ``protein-like'', heteropolymers must be thermodynamically stable, stable against…
Knotted proteins, when forced through the pores, can get stuck if the knots in their backbone tighten under force. Alternatively, the knot can slide off the chain, making translocation possible. We construct a simple energy landscape model…
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 present the statistical-mechanical theory of semiflexible polymers based on the connection between the Kratky-Porod model and the quantum rigid rotator in an external homogeneous field, and treatment of the latter using the quantum…
The statistical mechanics of flexible two-dimensional surfaces (membranes) appears in a wide variety of physical settings. In this talk we discuss the simplest case of fixed-connectivity surfaces. We first review the current theoretical…
We present a study of the bend angle distribution of semiflexible polymers of short and intermediate lengths within the wormlike chain model. This enables us to calculate the elastic response of a stiff molecule to a bending moment. Our…
Simulations of knotting and unknotting in polymers or other filaments rely on random processes to facilitate topological changes. Here we introduce a method of \textit{topological steering} to determine the optimal pathway by which a…
Knots and links in 3-manifolds are studied by applying intersection invariants to singular concordances. The resulting link invariants generalize the Arf invariant, the mod 2 Sato-Levine invariants, and Milnor's triple linking numbers.…
We analyze the structural behavior of a single polymer chain grafted to an attractive, flexible surface. Our model is composed of a coarse-grained bead-and-spring polymer and a tethered membrane. By means of extensive parallel tempering…
We study theoretically the entropic elasticity of a semi-flexible polymer, such as DNA, confined to two dimensions. Using the worm-like-chain model we obtain an exact analytical expression for the partition function of the polymer pulled at…
The shape of semiflexible polymer rings is studied over their whole range of flexibility. Investigating the joint distribution of asphericity and nature of asphericity as well as their respective averages we find two distinct shape regimes…
Knitted fabrics are metamaterials with remarkable mechanical properties, such as extreme deformability and multiple history-dependent rest shapes. This letter shows that those properties may stem from a continuous set of metastable states…
The aim of this paper is two-fold. First, via a phenomenological consideration I show that, equally with the conventional phases (body-centred cubic, hexagonal planar and lamellar), such non-conventional phases as simple cubic,…
Spherical confinement can act either stabilizing or destabilizing on the collapsed state of a semi-flexible polymer. General free-energy arguments suggest that the order of the unconstrained collapse transition is the distinguishing factor:…
Helices are the quintessential geometric motif of the microscale, from alpha-helices in proteins to double helices in DNA. Assembly of the helical geometry of biopolymers is a foundational step in a hierarchy of structure that eventually…
We present a theoretical analysis of a simple model of the depinning of an anchored semiflexible polymer from a fixed planar substrate in (1+1) dimensions. We consider a polymer with a discrete sequence of pinning sites along its contour.…
Macromolecules can gain special properties by adopting knotted conformations, but engineering knotted macromolecules is a challenging task. Here we surprisingly observed that knotting can be very effectively produced in active polymers.…
We use the bond fluctuation model to study the contraction process of two polymer loops with $N$ segments that are connected each to the bottom and top part of a Feringa engine. The change in the size of the molecules as well as the folding…
Bundles of filamentous polymers are primary structural components of a broad range of cytoskeletal structures, and their mechanical properties play key roles in cellular functions ranging from locomotion to mechanotransduction and…
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…