Related papers: What is the length of a knot in a polymer?
We give two different, statistically consistent definitions of the length l of a prime knot tied into a polymer ring. In the good solvent regime the polymer is modelled by a self avoiding polygon of N steps on cubic lattice and l is 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…
The interplay of geometrical and topological entanglement in semiflexible knotted polymer rings confined inside a spherical cavity is investigated using advanced numerical methods. By using stringent and robust algorithms for locating…
We study numerically the tightness of prime flat knots in a model of self-attracting polymers with excluded volume. We find that these knots are localised in the high temperature swollen regime, but become delocalised in the low temperature…
We compare Monte Carlo simulations of knotted and unknotted polymers whose ends are connected to two parallel walls. The force $f$ exerted on the polymer is measured as a function of the separation $R$ between the walls. For unknotted…
The ropelength of a knot is the quotient of its length and its thickness, the radius of the largest embedded normal tube around the knot. We prove existence and regularity for ropelength minimizers in any knot or link type; these are…
We study a model of "elastic" lattice polymer in which a fixed number of monomers $m$ is hosted by a self-avoiding walk with fluctuating length $l$. We show that the stored length density $\rho_m = 1 - <l>/m$ scales asymptotically for large…
We investigate the effect of knot type on the properties of a ring polymer confined to a slit. For relatively wide slits, the more complex the knot, the more the force exerted by the polymer on the walls is decreased compared to an…
For a knot or link K, let L(K) be the ropelength of K and Cr(K) be the crossing number of K. In this paper, we show that there exists a constant a>0 such that L(K) is bounded above by a Cr(K) ln^5 (Cr(K)) for any knot K. This result shows…
We investigate the Rouse dynamics of a flexible ring polymer with a prime knot. Within a Monte Carlo approach, we locate the knot, follow its diffusion, and observe the fluctuations of its length. We characterise a topological time scale,…
The entropic pressure in the vicinity of a cubic lattice knot is examined as a model of the entropic pressure near a knotted ring polymer in a good solvent. A model for the scaling of the pressure is developed and this is tested numerically…
The ropelength of a knot is the quotient of its length by its thickness. We consider a family of energy functions for knots, depending on a power p, which approach ropelength as p increases. We describe a numerically computed trefoil knot…
The ropelength of a knot or link is the minimal number of inches of 1-inch-thick rope that it takes to tie it. The relationship of this measurement to knot and link invariants has been studied by various authors. We give the first results…
In thermally fluctuating long linear polymeric chain in solution, the ends come from time to time into a direct contact or a close vicinity of each other. At such an instance, the chain can be regarded as a closed one and thus will form a…
Large scale molecular dynamics simulations on graphic processing units (GPUs) are employed to study the scaling behavior of ring polymers with various topological constraints in melts. Typical sizes of rings containing $3_1$, $5_1$ knots…
The effects of entanglement in solutions and melts of unknotted ring polymers have been addressed by several theoretical and numerical studies. The system properties have been typically profiled as a function of ring contour length at fixed…
The mechanical properties of polymer knots under stretching in a bad or good solvent are investigated by applying a given force $F$ to a point of the knot while keeping another point fixed. The Monte Carlo sampling of the polymer…
We discuss the entropy of a circular polymer under a topological constraint. We call it the {\it topological entropy} of the polymer, in short. A ring polymer does not change its topology (knot type) under any thermal fluctuations. Through…
The size of a zero thickness (no excluded volume) polymer ring is shown to scale with chain length $N$ in the same way as the size of the excluded volume (self-avoiding) linear polymer, as $N^{\nu}$, where $\nu \approx 0.588$. The…
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…