title: Critical slowing down in polymer dynamics near the coil-stretch transition in elongation flow.
abstract: We present experimental results on relaxation dynamics of lambda-DNA and T4 polymer molecules toward a steady state in elongation flow. Strong critical slowing down (similar to the well-known effect in continuous phase transitions) in polymer relaxation near the coil-stretch transition (CST) is quantitatively investigated and found to be in good accord with predictions. For polymers with a small number of Kuhn segments the maximum of the relaxation time vs the strain rate provides precise information about the location of the CST and serves as its criterion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Sergiy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gerashchenko
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Steinberg
mesh_terms: D017122:Bacteriophage T4 / Q000737:chemistry; D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000737:chemistry; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D011108:Polymers