Related papers: Metastable tight knots in a worm-like polymer
A new type of knot energy is presented via real life experiments involving a thin resilient metallic tube. Knotted in different ways, the device mechanically acquires a uniquely determined (up to isometry) normal form at least when the…
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…
The space writhe of a knot is a property of its three-dimensional embedding that contains information about its underlying topology, but the correspondence between space writhe and other topological invariants is not fully understood. We…
The scattering function and radius of gyration of an ideal polymer network are calculated depending on the strength of the bonds that form the crosslinks. Our calculations are based on an {\it exact} theorem for the characteristic function…
We model the typical behavior of knots and links using grid diagrams. Links are ubiquitous in the sciences, and their "normal" or "typical" behavior is of significant importance in understanding situations such as the topological state of…
A numerical simulation shows that the osmotic pressure of compressed lattice knots is a function of knot type, and so of entanglements. The osmotic pressure for the unknot goes through a negative minimum at low concentrations, but in the…
A number of recent experiments have provided detailed observations of the configurations of long DNA strands under nano-to-micrometer sized confinement. We therefore revisit the problem of an excluded volume polymer chain confined between…
We present an exact solution of the discrete wormlike chain (DWLC) model describing a single semiflexible polymer under arbitrary external force. Through exact closure relations between pair angular correlations and single-site angular…
Reversible crosslinking is a design paradigm for polymeric materials, wherein they are microscopically reinforced with chemical species that form transient crosslinks between the polymer chains. Besides the potential for self-healing,…
Knots across various length scales, from micro to macro-scales, such as polymers, DNA, shoelaces, and surgery, serving their unique mechanical properties. The shape of ideal knots has been extensively studied in the context of knot theory,…
We discuss a semi-implicit numerical scheme that allows for minimizing the bending energy of curves within certain isotopy classes. To this end we consider a weighted sum of the bending energy and the tangent-point functional. Based on…
The statistical mechanics of a ribbon polymer made up of two semiflexible chains is studied using both analytical techniques and simulation. The system is found to have a crossover transition at some finite temperature, from a type of short…
By using the transfer matrix approach, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of the entropy of flexible chains with $M$ monomers each placed on stripes. In the limit of high density of monomers, we study the behavior of the entropy as a…
We consider the diffusive motion of a localized knot along a linear polymer chain. In particular, we derive the mean diffusion time of the knot before it escapes from the chain once it gets close to one of the chain ends. Self-reptation of…
The aim of the present paper is the study of the entropic elasticity of the dsDNA molecule, having a cristallographic length L of the order of 10 to 30 persistence lengths A, when it is subject to spatial obstructions. We have not tried to…
When the local intrinsic stiffness of a polymer chain varies over a wide range, one can observe both a crossover from rigid-rod-like behavior to (almost) Gaussian random coils and a further crossover towards self-avoiding walks in good…
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 amount and type of self-entanglement of DNA filaments is significantly affected by spatial confinement, which is ubiquitous in biological systems. Motivated by recent advancements in single DNA molecule experiments based on nanofluidic…
We obtain the entropy of a static spherically symmetric wormhole from the entropy of matter consisting it. Some exact wormhole solutions are analyzed in detail and their entropies are obtained. We display the asymptotic forms of the entropy…
We study the static properties of a semiflexible polymer exposed to a quenched random environment by means of computer simulations. The polymer is modeled as two-dimensional Heisenberg chain. For the random environment we consider hard…