| Issue |
EPL
Volume 87, Number 3, August 2009
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 38001 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| Section | Interdisciplinary Physics and Related Areas of Science and Technology | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/87/38001 | |
| Published online | 24 August 2009 | |
Plectoneme creation reduces the rotational friction of a polymer
1
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University - Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
2
Department of Physics, Technical University Munich - 85748 Garching, Germany, EU
Received:
3
April
2009
Accepted:
15
July
2009
The torsional dynamics of a semiflexible polymer with a contour length L larger than its persistence length Lp that is rotated at fixed frequency 
at one end is studied by scaling arguments and hydrodynamic simulations. We find a non-equilibrium transition at a critical frequency 
: In the linear regime, 
, axial spinning is the dominant dissipation mode. In the non-linear regime, 
, the twist dissipation mode involves the continuous creation of plectonemes close to the driven end and the rotational friction is substantially reduced.
PACS: 87.15.H- – Dynamics of biomolecules / 87.16.Ka – Filaments, microtubules, their networks, and supramolecular assemblies / 47.15.G- – Low-Reynolds-number (creeping) flows
© EPLA, 2009
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