title: Self-oscillating polymer chain in a laser field.
abstract: We have investigated the dynamical behaviour of the rhythmic conformational change between the folded compact state and the unfolded state in a single polymer chain under thermodynamically open conditions. It is shown that the spontaneous rhythmic change in the conformation of a single polymer chain (T4DNA, 166 kbp, contour length: 56 microns) is generated using a focused continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser beam (wavelength lambda = 1064 nm), where the focused laser beam plays a dual role, both trapping a polymer chain at the focus and creating a temperature gradient around the focus. Furthermore, the whole process of the rhythmic conformational change: the course of melting, nucleation and growth between the folded and unfolded states has been clarified. The rhythmic change in the conformation is discussed in terms of the limit-cycle oscillation driven by the dissipation of the photon energy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, CREST (Core Research for Evolutional and Scientific Technology) of JST (Japan Science and Technology Corporation), Kyoto 606-8502, Japan. mayama@chem.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mayama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
mesh_terms: D017122:Bacteriophage T4 / Q000737:chemistry; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D007834:Lasers; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004247:DNA