Related papers: Untying molecular friction knots
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…
Soft intertwined channel systems are frequently found in fluid flow networks in nature. The passage geometry of these systems can deform due to fluid flow, which can cause the relationship between flow rate and pressure drop to deviate from…
Networks of flexible filaments often involve regions of tight contact. Predictively understanding the equilibrium configurations of these systems is challenging due to intricate couplings between topology, geometry, large nonlinear…
Strong shear thickening and jamming in dense suspensions are driven by friction as particles are sheared into contact. Control over these frictional interactions can be achieved via particle shape and roughness, and also via the particles'…
Friction is the basic, ubiquitous mechanical interaction between two surfaces that results in resistance to motion and energy dissipation. In spite of its technological and economic significance, our ability to control friction remains…
The statistical mechanics of single polymer knots is studied using Monte Carlo simulations. The polymers are considered on a cubic lattice and their conformations are randomly changed with the help of pivot transformations. After each…
Entangled networks of stiff biopolymers exhibit complex dynamic response, emerging from the topological constraints that neighboring filaments impose upon each other. We propose a class of reference models for entanglement dynamics of stiff…
In this work, we investigated the effect of knots in the thermal transport of graphene nanoribbons through non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. We considered the cases of one, two, and three knots are present. Temperature jumps…
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…
We present a new computational methodology for the investigation of gel electrophoresis of polyelectrolytes. We have developed the method initially to incorporate sliding motion of tight parts of a polymer pulled by an electric field into…
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,…
Proteins can sometimes be knotted, and for many reasons the study of knotted proteins is rapidly becoming very important. For example, it has been proposed that a knot increases the stability of a protein. Knots may also alter enzymatic…
Dynamical frictional phenomena are studied theoretically in a two-chain model with incommensurate structure. A perturbation theory with respect to the interchain interaction reveals the contributions from phonons excited in each chain to…
We present computer simulations of a dynamic Monte Carlo algorithm for polymer chains on the FCC lattice which takes explicitly into account the possibility to overcome topological constraints by controlling the rate at which nearby polymer…
We have used kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to study the kinetics of unfolding of cross-linked polymer chains under mechanical loading. As the ends of a chain are pulled apart, the force transmitted by each crosslink increases until it…
Experiments have long shown that a polymer network of covalent bonds commonly ruptures at a stress that is orders of magnitude lower than the strength of the covalent bonds. Here we investigate this large reduction in strength by…
A {\it stuck knot} is a knot diagram containing designated crossings, called {\it stuck crossings}, whose incident strands are required to remain locally non-separable. These rigidity constraints restrict the allowable ambient isotopies and…
The some dynamic properties of a random heteropolymer in the condensed state are studied in the mode coupling approximation. In agreement with recent report a dynamic friction increasing is predicted for the random heteropolymer with…
Knotted proteins embed a physical (i.e., open) knot within their native structures. For decades, significant effort has been devoted to elucidating the functional role of knots in proteins, yet no consensus has been reached. Here, using…
The fracture and severing of polymer chains plays a critical role in the failure of fibrous materials and the regulated turnover of intracellular filaments. Using continuum wormlike chain models, we investigate the fracture of semiflexible…