title: Extreme-value statistics of work done in stretching a polymer in a gradient flow.
abstract: We analyze the statistics of work generated by a gradient flow to stretch a nonlinear polymer. We obtain the large deviation function (LDF) of the work in the full range of appropriate parameters by combining analytical and numerical tools. The LDF shows two distinct asymptotes: "near tails" are linear in work and dominated by coiled polymer configurations, while "far tails" are quadratic in work and correspond to preferentially fully stretched polymers. We find the extreme value statistics of work for several singular elastic potentials, as well as the mean and the dispersion of work near the coil-stretch transition. The dispersion shows a maximum at the transition.
authors.affiliation: Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vucelja
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Turitsyn
authors.affiliation: Theory Division & Center for Nonlinear Studies at LANL and with New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chertkov