Dynamics of active polar ring polymers

Physical review. E, vol. 105, pp. L062501

Abstract

The conformational and dynamical properties of isolated semiflexible active polar ring polymers are investigated analytically. A ring is modeled as a continuous Gaussian polymer exposed to tangential active forces. The analytical solution of the linear non-Hermitian equation of motion in terms of an eigenfunction expansion shows that ring conformations are independent of activity. In contrast, activity strongly affects the internal ring dynamics and yields characteristic time regimes, which are absent in passive rings. On intermediate timescales, flexible rings show an activity-enhanced diffusive regime, while semiflexible rings exhibit ballistic motion. Moreover, a second active time regime emerges on longer timescales, where rings display a snake-like motion, which is reminiscent to a tank-treading rotational dynamics in shear flow, dominated by the mode with the longest relaxation time.

Authors 3

1. Christian A. Philipps Aachen Department of Physics

   RWTH Aachen University · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52056 Aachen, Germany

   Theoretical Physics of Living Matter, Institute of Biological Information Processing and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, 52425 Jülich, Germany

2. Gerhard Gompper

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Theoretical Physics of Living Matter, Institute of Biological Information Processing and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, 52425 Jülich, Germany

3. Roland G. Winkler

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Jülich Aachen Research Alliance

   Affiliation as printed

   Theoretical Physics of Living Matter, Institute of Biological Information Processing and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich and JARA, 52425 Jülich, Germany