title: Topological signatures of globular polymers.
abstract: Simulations in which a globular ring polymer with delocalized knots is separated in two interacting loops by a slipping link, or in two noninteracting globuli by a wall with a hole, show how the minimal crossing number of the knots controls the equilibrium statistics. With slipping link the ring length is divided between the loops according to a simple law, but with unexpectedly large fluctuations. These are suppressed only for unknotted loops, whose length distribution always shows a fast power-law decay. We also discover and explain a topological effect interfering with that of surface tension in the globule translocation through a membrane nanopore.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Padova, Via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baiesi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orlandini
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Stella
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zonta
mesh_terms: D008958:Models, Molecular; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers