Circular and helical equilibrium solutions of inhomogeneous rods

Details Circular and helical equilibrium solutions of inhomogeneous rods Circular and helical equilibrium solutions of inhomogeneous rods

2006-07-14

arxiv.org/abs/physics/0607132v1

Physics

Classical Physics

27 pages, 2 figures

Scientific paper

Real filaments are not perfectly homogeneous. Most of them have various materials composition and shapes making their stiffnesses not constant along the arclength. We investigate the existence of circular and helical equilibrium solutions of an intrinsically straight rod with varying bending and twisting stiffnesses, within the framework of the Kirchhoff model. The planar ring equilibrium solution only exists for a rod with a given form of variation of the bending stiffness. We show that the well known circular helix is not an equilibrium solution of the static Kirchhoff equations for a rod with non constant bending stiffness. Our results may provide an explanation for the variation of the curvature seen in small closed DNAs immersed in a solution containing Zn^{2+}, and in the DNA wrapped around a nucleosome.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Circular and helical equilibrium solutions of inhomogeneous rods does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Circular and helical equilibrium solutions of inhomogeneous rods, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Circular and helical equilibrium solutions of inhomogeneous rods will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-96609