Conformational statistics of ribbonlike semiflexible polymer chains.
The conformational statistics of ribbonlike polymers possessing bending and twist rigidity are considered on the basis of a lattice model of directed self-correlated walks. It was assumed that local properties of the ribbonlike chain are strongly anisotropic: bending is possible only in the plane of the ribbon (the orientation of this plane can vary due to twist). The generating function for the distribution of a chain segment that is non-Gaussian is constructed. It is shown that in the isotropic environment the twist degree of freedom has no effect on the state of such macromolecules as a whole, and the consideration of rigidity alone in bending results in correct statistical features of a polymer chain. This model is suitable in accounting for the twist degree of freedom in the system with broken rotary symmetry.
Arinstein
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Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel. arinsta@mail.biu.ac.il