The conformation of a semiflexible filament in a quenched random potential

Abstract

Motivated by the observation of the storage of excess elastic free energy - (prestress) -- in cross linked semiflexible networks, we consider the problem of the conformational statistics of a single semiflexible polymer in a quenched random potential. The random potential, which represents the effect of cross linking to other filaments is assumed to have a finite correlation length $\xi$ and mean strength $V_0$. We examine statistical distribution of curvature in filament with thermal persistence length ${\ell }_P$ and length $L_0$ in the limit that ${\ell }_P\gg L_0$. We compare our theoretical predictions to finite element Brownian dynamics simulations. Lastly we comment on the validity of replica field techniques in addressing these questions.

References in corpus (6)

• Rheology of Soft Glassy Materials
• Elasticity of Semiflexible Biopolymer Networks
• Noise in disordered systems: The power spectrum and dynamic exponents in avalanche models
• Cross-link governed dynamics of biopolymer networks
• Anisotropic Scaling in Depinning of a Flux Line
• Explicit solution of the optimal fluctuation problem for an elastic string in random potential

Cited by in corpus (2)

• A Novel Modeling and Simulation Approach for the Hindered Mobility of Charged Particles in Biological Hydrogels
• Disordered biopolymer filament bundles: Topological defects and kinks