Unwinding relaxation dynamics of polymers

The relaxation dynamics of a polymer wound around a fixed obstacle constitutes a fundamental instance of polymer with twist and torque, and it is also of relevance for DNA denaturation dynamics. We investigate it by simulations and Langevin equation analysis. The latter predicts a relaxation time sc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2013-02, Vol.110 (6), p.068301-068301, Article 068301
Main Authors: Walter, J-C, Baiesi, M, Barkema, G T, Carlon, E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Physics
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
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Summary:The relaxation dynamics of a polymer wound around a fixed obstacle constitutes a fundamental instance of polymer with twist and torque, and it is also of relevance for DNA denaturation dynamics. We investigate it by simulations and Langevin equation analysis. The latter predicts a relaxation time scaling as a power of the polymer length times a logarithmic correction related to the equilibrium fluctuations of the winding angle. The numerical data support this result and show that at short times the winding angle decreases as a power law. This is also in agreement with the Langevin equation provided a winding-dependent friction is used, suggesting that such reduced description of the system captures the basic features of the problem.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.068301