title: Finite-size corrections for confined polymers in the extended de Gennes regime.
abstract: Theoretical results for the extension of a polymer confined to a channel are usually derived in the limit of infinite contour length. But experimental studies and simulations of DNA molecules confined to nanochannels are not necessarily in this asymptotic limit. We calculate the statistics of the span and the end-to-end distance of a semiflexible polymer of finite length in the extended de Gennes regime, exploiting the fact that the problem can be mapped to a one-dimensional weakly self-avoiding random walk. The results thus obtained compare favorably with pruned-enriched Rosenbluth method (PERM) simulations of a three-dimensional discrete wormlike chain model of DNA confined in a nanochannel. We discuss the implications for experimental studies of linear λ-DNA confined to nanochannels at the high ionic strengths used in many experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Origovägen 6B, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Toby St Clere
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Smithe
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Origovägen 6B, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Vitalii
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Iarko
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Abhiram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muralidhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Origovägen 6B, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 421 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Dorfman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Origovägen 6B, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mehlig
mesh_terms: D010582:Bacteriophage lambda; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009994:Osmolar Concentration
chemical_list: D004247:DNA