title: Entropic stochastic resonance of a flexible polymer chain in a confined system.
abstract: We have studied the dynamics of a flexible polymer chain in constrained dumb-bell-shape geometry subject to a periodic force and external noise along the longitudinal direction. It is found that the system exhibits a feature of entropic stochastic resonance (ESR), i.e., the temporal coherence of the polymer motion can reach a maximum level for an optimal noise intensity. We demonstrate that the occurrence of ESR is robust to the change of chain length, while the bottleneck width should be properly chosen. A gravity force in the vertical direction is not necessary for the ESR here, however, the elastic coupling between polymer beads is crucial.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hanshuang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhonghuai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hou
mesh_terms: D019277:Entropy; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013269:Stochastic Processes
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers