Related papers: Topological Forces in a Model System for Reptation…

Polymer entanglements lead to complicated topological constraints and interactions between neighbouring chains in a dense solution or melt. Entanglements can be treated in a mean field approach, within the famous reptation model, since they…

Understanding the complex viscoelastic properties of polymeric liquids remains a challenge in materials science and soft matter physics. Here, we present a simple and computationally efficient criterion for the topological constraints in…

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…

We employ a first principles, force-level approach to self-consistently construct the anharmonic tube confinement field for entangled fluids of rigid needles and for primitive-path (PP) level chains in two limiting situations where chain…

We analyze the motion of individual beads of a polymer chain using a discrete version of De Gennes' reptation model that describes the motion of a polymer through an ordered lattice of obstacles. The motion within the tube can be evaluated…

The reptation concept in polymer dynamics is studied for model chains with added stiffness. The main idea of a chain diffusing inside a tube can be transferred from fully flexible chains. However, the picture, which renormalizes the chain…

The effect of chain topology on the statics and dynamics of chain at the interface of two immiscible fluids is studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. For three topologically different chains, namely, linear, ring, and…

The interplay of topological constraints, excluded volume interactions, persistence length and dynamical entanglement length in solutions and melts of linear chains and ring polymers is investigated by means of kinetic Monte Carlo…

Topology is an important determinant of the behavior of a great number of condensed-matter systems, but until recently has played a minor role in elasticity. We develop a theory for the deformations of a class of twisted non-Euclidean…

Reptation theory has been highly successful in explaining the unusual material properties of entangled polymer solutions. It reduces the complex many-body dynamics to a single-polymer description where each polymer is envisaged to be…

We use Brownian dynamics simulations and advanced topological profiling methods to characterize the out-of-equilibrium evolution of self-entanglement in linear polymers confined into nano-channels and under periodic compression. We…

Polymers are an effective test-bed for studying topological constraints in condensed matter due to a wide array of synthetically-available chain topologies. When linear and ring polymers are blended together, emergent rheological properties…

Conformational transitions are ubiquitous in biomolecular systems, have significant functional roles and are subject to evolutionary pressures. Here we provide a first theoretical framework for topological transition, i.e. conformational…

We employ mesoscopic simulations to study active polymers in a solvent via multi-particle collision dynamics. We investigate linear chains in which either the head or tail monomer exerts an active force, directed away from or towards its…

Entangled networks are ubiquitous in tissues, polymers, and fabrics. However, their mechanics remain insufficiently understood due to the complexity of the topological constraints at the network level. Here, we develop a mathematical…

By means of contact dynamic simulations, we investigate the contact network topology and force chains in two-dimensional packings of elongated particles modeled by rounded-cap rectangles. The morphology of large packings of elongated…

We present simulation data for the motion of a polymer chain through a regular lattice of impenetrable obstacles (Evans-Edwards model). Chain lengths range from N=20 to N=640, and time up to $10^{7}$ Monte Carlo steps. For $N \geq 160$ we…

Topological constraints can affect both equilibrium and dynamic properties of polymer systems, and can play a role in the organization of chromosomes. Despite many theoretical studies, the effects of topological constraints on the…

The statistical mechanics of a long knotted collapsed polymer is determined by a free-energy with a knot-dependent subleading term, which is linked to the length of the shortest polymer that can hold such knot. The only other parameter…

Polymers in a melt may be subject to topological constraints, as in the example of unlinked polymer rings. How to do statistical mechanics in the presence of such constraints remains a fundamental open problem. We study the effect of…