Knots in Charged Polymers

Details Knots in Charged Polymers Knots in Charged Polymers

2002-07-10

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0207276v1

Physical Review E 66, 031802 (2002)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

Revtex4, 9 pages, 9 eps figures

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevE.66.031802

The interplay of topological constraints and Coulomb interactions in static and dynamic properties of charged polymers is investigated by numerical simulations and scaling arguments. In the absence of screening, the long-range interaction localizes irreducible topological constraints into tight molecular knots, while composite constraints are factored and separated. Even when the forces are screened, tight knots may survive as local (or even global) equilibria, as long as the overall rigidity of the polymer is dominated by the Coulomb interactions. As entanglements involving tight knots are not easy to eliminate, their presence greatly influences the relaxation times of the system. In particular, we find that tight knots in open polymers are removed by diffusion along the chain, rather than by opening up. The knot diffusion coefficient actually decreases with its charge density, and for highly charged polymers the knot's position appears frozen.

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