title: Phase diagram of the ground states of DNA condensates.
abstract: The phase diagram of the ground states of DNA in a bad solvent is studied for a semiflexible polymer model with a generalized local elastic bending potential characterized by a nonlinearity parameter x and effective self-attraction promoting compaction. x=1 corresponds to the wormlike chain model. Surprisingly, the phase diagram as well as the transition lines between the ground states are found to be a function of x. The model provides a simple explanation for the results of prior experimental and computational studies and makes predictions for the specific geometries of the ground states. The results underscore the impact of the form of the microscopic bending energy at macroscopic observable scales.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 10 Dao Tan, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Trinh X
authors.initials: TX
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 10 Dao Tan, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Hoa Lan
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Trinh
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Molecolari e Nanosistemi, Universita' Ca' Foscari Venezia, I-30123 Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Achille
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giacometti
authors.affiliation: Department of Theoretical Physics, J. Stefan Institute and Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.|Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Podgornik
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Jayanth R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Banavar
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Padova, CNISM and INFN, via Marzolo 8, I-35131 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Amos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maritan
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D012997:Solvents; D004247:DNA