Helical Polymer in Cylindrical Confining Geometries

Abstract
Using an algorithm for simulating equilibrium configurations, we study a fluctuating helical polymer either (i) contained in a cylindrical pore or (ii) wound around a cylindrical rod. We work in the regime where both the contour length and the persistence length of the helical polymer are much larger than the diameter of the cylinder. In case (i) we calculate the free energy of confinement and interpret it in terms of a wormlike chain in a pore with an effective diameter that depends on the parameters of the helix. In case (ii) we consider the possibility that one end of the helical polymer escapes from the rod and wanders away. The average numbers of turns at which the helix escapes or intersects the rod are measured in the simulations, as a function of the pitch p(o). The behavior for large and small p(o) is explained with simple scaling arguments.
Anno
2004
Autori IAC
Tipo pubblicazione
Altri Autori
A. Lamura, T. W. Burkhardt, G. Gompper
Editore
Published by the American Physical Society through the American Institute of Physics,
Rivista
Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics (Print)