Coupling of transverse and longitudinal response in stiff polymers.
The time-dependent transverse response of stiff inextensible polymers is well understood on the linear level, where transverse and longitudinal displacements evolve independently. We show that for times beyond a characteristic time tf, longitudinal friction considerably weakens the response compared to the widely used linear response predictions. The corresponding feedback mechanism is explained by scaling arguments and quantified by a systematic theory. Our scaling laws and exact solutions for the transverse response apply to cytoskeletal filaments as well as DNA under tension.
Obermayer
Benedikt
B
Arnold Sommerfeld Center and Center for NanoScience, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstr. 37, 80333 München, Germany. obermayer@physik.lmu.de
Hallatschek
Oskar
O