Semiflexible polymer confined to a spherical surface.
We develop a formalism for describing the kinematics of a wormlike chain confined to the surface of a sphere that simultaneously satisfies the spherical confinement and the inextensibility of the chain contour. We use this formalism to study the statistical behavior of the wormlike chain on a spherical surface. In particular, we provide an exact, closed-form expression for the mean square end-to-end distance that is valid for any value of chain length L, persistence length l(p), and sphere radius R. We predict two qualitatively different behaviors for a long polymer depending on the ratio R/l(p). For R/l(p)>4, the mean square end-to-end distance increases monotonically with the chain length, whereas for R/l(p)<4, a damped oscillatory behavior is predicted.
Spakowitz
Andrew J
AJ
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Wang
Zhen-Gang
ZG
D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
D011108:Polymers; D011506:Proteins; D004247:DNA