Mechanical response of semiflexible networks to localized perturbations.
Previous research on semiflexible polymers including cytoskeletal networks in cells has suggested the existence of distinct regimes of elastic response, in which the strain field is either uniform (affine) or nonuniform (nonaffine) under external stress. Associated with these regimes, it has been further suggested that a mesoscopic length scale emerges, which characterizes the scale for the crossover from nonaffine to affine deformations. Here, we extend these studies by probing the response to localized forces and force dipoles. We show that the previously identified nonaffinity length [D. A. Head, Phys. Rev. E 68, 061907 (2003)] controls the mesoscopic response to point forces and the crossover to continuum elastic behavior at large distances.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
D A
DA
Head
A J
AJ
Levine
F C
FC
MacKintosh
D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins