Bimodal probability density characterizes the elastic behavior of a semiflexible polymer in 2D under compression

Abstract

We explore the elastic behavior of a wormlike chain under compression in terms of exact solutions for the associated probability densities. Strikingly, the probability density for the end-to-end distance projected along the applied force exhibits a bimodal shape in the vicinity of the critical Euler buckling force of an elastic rod, reminiscent of the smeared discontinuous phase transition of a finite system. These two modes reflect the almost stretched and the S-shaped configuration of a clamped polymer induced by the compression. Moreover, we find a bimodal shape of the probability density for the transverse fluctuations of the free end of a cantilevered polymer as fingerprint of its semiflexibility. In contrast to clamped polymers, free polymers display a circularly symmetric probability density and their distributions are identical for compression and stretching forces.

References in corpus (8)

• Intermediate scattering function of an anisotropic active Brownian particle
• Monte Carlo study of multiply crosslinked semiflexible polymer networks
• Intermediate scattering function of an anisotropic Brownian circle swimmer
• Transverse fluctuations of grafted polymers
• Exact solution for the force-extension relation of a semiflexible polymer under compression
• Persistence-Length Renormalization of Polymers in a Crowded Environment of Hard Disks
• Tube Concept for Entangled Stiff Fibers Predicts Their Dynamics in Space and Time
• Bimodal distribution function of a 3d wormlike chain with a fixed orientation of one end

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Elastic behavior of a semiflexible polymer in 3D subject to compression and stretching forces