Related papers: Capillary-driven thinning of DNA solutions
We study the segregation of motile semiflexible filaments from a background of similar but non-motile filaments. Our Langevin dynamics simulations reveal a wide range of emergent structures governed by filament flexibility and activity,…
The functioning of machines typically requires a concerted action of their parts. This requirement also holds for molecular motors that drive vital cellular processes and imposes constraints on their conformational changes as well as the…
The static and dynamic properties of dendrimers in semidilute solutions of linear chains of comparable size are investigated using Brownian dynamics simulations. The radius of gyration and diffusivity of a wide variety of low generation…
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…
DNA bending on length scales shorter than a persistence length plays an integral role in the translation of genetic information from DNA to cellular function. Quantitative experimental studies of these biological systems have led to a…
Colloidal molecules are designed to mimic their molecular analogues through their anisotropic shape and interactions. However, current experimental realizations are missing the structural flexibility present in real molecules thereby…
We consider the motion of semiflexible polymers in double-well potentials. We calculate shape, energy, and effective diffusion constant of kink excitations, and in particular their dependence on the bending rigidity of the semiflexible…
DNA and other biopolymers differ from classical polymers due to their torsional stiffness. This property changes the statistical character of their conformations under tension from a classical random walk to a problem we call the `torsional…
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…
Complex fluids containing low concentrations of slender colloidal rods can display a high viscosity, while little flow is needed to thin the fluid. This feature makes slender rods essential constituents in industrial applications and…
We characterize the self-assembly of colloidal particles with surface mobile DNA linkers under kinetically limited valence conditions. For this, we put forward a computer simulation model that captures quantitatively the interplay between…
The paper studies the long time behavior of a system that describes the motion of a piece of elastic membrane driven by surface tension and inner air pressure. The system is a degenerate quasilinear hyperbolic one that involves the mean…
When a capillary is inserted into a liquid, the liquid will rapidly flow into it. This phenomenon, well studied and understood on the macroscale, is investigated by Molecular Dynamics simulations for coarse-grained models of nanotubes. Both…
The properties of a semiflexible polymer with fixed ends exposed to oscillatory shear flow are investigated by simulations. The two-dimensionally confined polymer is modeled as a linear bead-spring chain, and the interaction with the fluid…
Rhythmic and sequential segmentation of the embryonic body plan is a vital developmental patterning process in all vertebrate species. However, a theoretical framework capturing the emergence of dynamic patterns of gene expression from the…
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…
A fundamental paradigm in polymer physics is that macromolecular conformations in equilibrium can be described by universal scaling laws, being key for structure, dynamics, and function of soft (biological) matter and in the materials…
Polymer solutions subject to pressure driven flow and in nanoscale slit pores are systematically investigated using the dissipative particle dynamics approach. We investigated the effect of molecular weight, polymer concentration and flow…
Many cells exploit the bending or rotation of flagellar filaments in order to self-propel in viscous fluids. While appropriate theoretical modelling is available to capture flagella locomotion in simple, Newtonian fluids, formidable…
Evaporating colloidal droplets have long been used as model systems to understand capillarity, interfacial transport, and particle assembly, most prominently through the coffee ring effect. In classical descriptions, suspended particles are…