Related papers: Reduced Persistence Length and Fluctuation-Induced…
Membrane shape fluctuations induce attractive interactions between rigid inclusions. Previous analytical studies showed that the fluctuation-induced pair interactions are rather small compared to thermal energies, but also that multi-body…
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.,…
The conformational properties of a semi-flexible polymer chain, anchored at one end in a uniform force field, are studied in a simple two-dimensional model. Recursion relations are derived for the partition function and then iterated…
We directly visualize single polymers with persistence lengths ranging from $\ell_p=0.05$ to 16 $\mu$m, dissolved in the nematic phase of rod-like {\it fd} virus. Polymers with sufficiently large persistence length undergo a coil-rod…
The concept of fluctuation-induced effective interactions is extended to systems driven out of equilibrium. We compute the forces experienced by macroscopic objects immersed in a soft material driven by external shaking sources. We show…
A net force can arise on objects which lie in systems with complex energy partitions, even if the system is on average stationary. These forces are usually called fluctuation forces, as they arise due to the objects modifying the character…
Curvature plays a central organizational role in active polymer dynamics. Using large-scale Langevin-dynamics simulations, we study active semiflexible filaments confined to smooth curved surfaces and map how curvature, bending rigidity,…
We investigate the effect of polydispersity on fluctuation-induced interactions between colloids trapped at a fluid interface. Using the scattering-matrix formalism, we calculate the interaction energy in two- and three-body systems under…
We analyze static properties of a strongly confined semiflexible polymer, i.e. either trapped in a closed space or compressed by external forces, in an athermal solvent. Like a flexible polymer case, we can resort to an analogy with the…
We propose that several mechanisms contribute to friction in a polymer melt adsorbed at a structured surface. The first one is the well known disentanglement of bulk polymer chains from the surface layer. However, if the surface is ideal at…
We study the effect of diluted flexible polymers on a disordered capillary wave state. The waves are generated at an interface of a dyed water sugar solution and a low viscous silicon oil. This allows for a quantitative measurement of the…
Shear flow is known to induce huge density fluctuations in otherwise clear and uniform polymer solutions. This effect is rooted in the elasticity of the entangled polymer network, and can span distances over a thousand chains wide. It has…
We investigate the propagation of a suddenly applied tension along a thermally excited semi-flexible polymer using analytical approximations, scaling arguments and numerical simulation. This problem is inherently non-linear. We find…
The dynamical response of a tethered semiflexible polymer with self-attractive interactions and subjected to an external force field is numerically investigated by varying stiffness and self-interaction strength. The chain is confined in…
We consider an explicit model of a semiflexible filament moving in two dimensions on a gliding assay of motor proteins, which attach to and detach from filament segments stochastically, with a detachment rate that depends on the local load…
The density profile and surface tension for the interface of phase-separated colloid-polymer mixtures have been studied in the framework of the square gradient approximation for both ideal and interacting polymers in good solvent. The…
We propose a simple friction model for isolated polymer chains on a solid substrate. The chains are pulled at constant velocity by one end, the other end can be trapped on the solid substrate on localised sites. We focus on the energy…
The modes of attachments, detachments and relaxations of molecules of rubbers and gels on solid surfaces are keys to understanding their frictional properties. An early stochastic model of polymer relaxations on surfaces was given by…
The shape of semiflexible polymer rings is studied over their whole range of flexibility. Investigating the joint distribution of asphericity and nature of asphericity as well as their respective averages we find two distinct shape regimes…
We discuss the fluctuation-induced force, a finite-temperature analog of the Casimir force, between two inclusions embedded in a fluid membrane under tension. We suggest a method to calculate this Casimir interaction in the most general…