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Free energy and extension of a semiflexible polymer in cylindrical confining geometries.
- Source :
-
Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics [Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys] 2007 Jul; Vol. 76 (1 Pt 1), pp. 011804. Date of Electronic Publication: 2007 Jul 19. - Publication Year :
- 2007
-
Abstract
- We consider a long, semiflexible polymer with persistence length P and contour length L fluctuating in a narrow cylindrical channel of diameter D. In the regime D<<P<<L the free energy of confinement DeltaF and the length of the channel R parallel occupied by the polymer are given by Odijk's relations DeltaF/R parallel=A(o)kB(TP)-1/3 D(-2/3) and R parallel =L[1-alpha(o)(D/P)2/3], where A(o) and alpha(o) are dimensionless amplitudes. Using a simulation algorithm inspired by the pruned enriched Rosenbluth method, which yields results for very long polymers, we determine A(o) and alpha(o) and the analogous amplitudes for a channel with a rectangular cross section. For a semiflexible polymer confined to the surface of a cylinder, the corresponding amplitudes are derived with an exact analytic approach. The results are relevant for interpreting experiments on biopolymers in microchannels or microfluidic devices.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1539-3755
- Volume :
- 76
- Issue :
- 1 Pt 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 17677481
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.76.011804