Entropic Elasticity of Twist-Storing Polymers

Details Entropic Elasticity of Twist-Storing Polymers Entropic Elasticity of Twist-Storing Polymers

1997-11-30

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9712004v2

Macromolecules 31 (1998) 6333-6347

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

37 pages RevTeX, 2 postscript figures. Revisions include the analysis of new data and an investigation of non-perturbative eff

Scientific paper

10.1021/ma971804a

We investigate the statistical mechanics of a torsionally constrained polymer. The polymer is modeled as a fluctuating rod with bend stiffness A kT and twist stiffness C kT. In such a model, thermal bend fluctuations couple geometrically to an applied torque through the relation Lk = Tw + Wr. We explore this coupling and find agreement between the predictions of our model and recent experimental results on single lambda-DNA molecules. This analysis affords an experimental determination of the microscopic twist stiffness (averaged over a helix repeat). Quantitative agreement between theory and experiment is obtained using C=109 nm. The theory further predicts a thermal reduction of the effective twist rigidity induced by bend fluctuations. Finally, we find a small reflection of molecular chirality in the experimental data and interpret it in terms of a twist-stretch coupling of the DNA duplex.

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