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Active processes in living systems generate nonequilibrium forces that deform embedded passive macromolecules. To understand how such dynamics influence polymer conformation, we study a flexible passive chain in an active nematic fluid.…
Understanding how topological constraints affect the dynamics of polymers in solution is at the basis of any polymer theory and it is particularly needed for melts of rings. These polymers fold as crumpled and space-filling objects and,…
Microbial flagellates typically inhabit complex suspensions of polymeric material which can impact the swimming speed of motile microbes, filter-feeding of sessile cells, and the generation of biofilms. There is currently a need to better…
The relaxation dynamics of a polymer wound around a fixed obstacle constitutes a fundamental instance of polymer with twist and torque and it is of relevance also for DNA denaturation dynamics. We investigate it by simulations and Langevin…
Elucidating the physics of a concentrated suspension of ring polymers, or of an ensemble of ring polymers in a complex environment, is an important outstanding question in polymer physics. Many of the characteristic features of these…
We present the results of analytic calculations and numerical simulations of the behaviour of a new class of chain molecules which we call thick polymers. The concept of the thickness of such a polymer, viewed as a tube, is encapsulated by…
The conformational and dynamical properties of active ring polymers are studied by numerical simulations. The two-dimensionally confined polymer is modeled as a closed bead-spring chain, driven by tangential forces, put in contact with a…
The dynamics of polymer decompression, i.e., a process from compressed, compact state to the relaxed swoll en conformation, can be formally described as a {\it nonlinear diffusion}. We discuss here two basic examples: (i) the expansion, or…
The longitudinal response of single semiflexible polymers to sudden changes in externally applied forces is known to be controlled by the propagation and relaxation of backbone tension. Under many experimental circumstances, realized, e.g.,…
We study the viscoelastic properties of highly entangled, flexible, self-propelled polymers using Brownian dynamics simulations. Our results show that the active motion of the polymer increases the height of the stress plateau by orders of…
Spontaneous formation of knots in long polymers at equilibrium is inevitable but becomes rare in sufficiently short chains. Here, we show that knotting and knot complexity increase by orders of magnitude in diblock polymers with a fraction…
Polar polymer activity is a fundamental mechanism behind a large number of cellular dynamical processes. The number and location of the active sites on the polymer backbone play a central role in their dynamics and conformational…
We report that a dielectric polymer chain, constrained at both ends, sharply collapses when exposed to a high electric field. The chain collapse is driven by nonlocal dipolar interactions and anisotropic polarization of monomers, a…
We investigate theoretically the transfer of excitation along a one dimensional chain of monomers for a situation in which initially the excitation is shared coherently by two monomers. We show that depending on the relative phase between…
Self-organization phenomena in ensembles of self-propelled particles open pathways to the synthesis of new dynamic states not accessible by traditional equilibrium processes. The challenge is to develop a set of principles that facilitate…
In order to discover generic effects of heterogeneous communication delays on the dynamics of large systems of coupled oscillators, this paper studies a modification of the Kuramoto model incorporating a distribution of interaction delays.…
In this paper, we employ Molecular Dynamics computer simulations to study and compare the statics and dynamics of linear and circular (ring) polymer chains in entangled solutions of different densities. While we confirm that linear chain…
We generalize the Kuramoto model of coupled oscillators to allow time-delayed interactions. New phenomena include bistability between synchronized and incoherent states, and unsteady solutions with time-dependent order parameters. We derive…
The dynamics of many glassy systems are known to exhibit string-like hopping motions each consisting of a line of particles displacing one and other. By using molecular dynamics simulations of glassy polymers, we show that these motions…
Diffusive transport of small molecules within the internal structures of biological and synthetic material systems is complex because the crowded environment presents chemical and physical barriers to mobility. We explored this mobility…