Onsager-Manning-Oosawa condensation phenomenon and the effect of salt.
Making use of results pertaining to Painlevé III type equations, we revisit the celebrated Onsager-Manning-Oosawa condensation phenomenon for charged stiff linear polymers, in the mean-field approximation with salt. We obtain analytically the associated critical line charge density and show that it is severely affected by finite salt effects, whereas previous results focused on the no salt limit. In addition, we obtain explicit expressions for the condensate thickness and the electric potential. The case of asymmetric electrolytes is also briefly addressed.
Theoretical Biological Physics, UCSD, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.
Emmanuel
E
Trizac
Gabriel
G
Téllez
D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D012492:Salts / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity
D001704:Biopolymers; D012492:Salts