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Barrier crossing in one and three dimensions by a long chain

Debnath, Ananya and Paul, Alok KR and Sebastian, KL (2010) Barrier crossing in one and three dimensions by a long chain. In: Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment .

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Official URL: http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-5468/2010/11/P11024

Abstract

We consider the Kramers problem for a long chain polymer trapped in a biased double-well potential. Initially the polymer is in the less stable well and it can escape from this well to the other well by the motion of its N beads across the barrier to attain the configuration having lower free energy. In one dimension we simulate the crossing and show that the results are in agreement with the kink mechanism suggested earlier. In three dimensions, it has not been possible to get an analytical `kink solution' for an arbitrary potential; however, one can assume the form of the solution of the nonlinear equation as a kink solution and then find a double-well potential in three dimensions. To verify the kink mechanism, simulations of the dynamics of a discrete Rouse polymer model in a double well in three dimensions are carried out. We find that the time of crossing is proportional to the chain length, which is in agreement with the results for the kink mechanism. The shape of the kink solution is also in agreement with the analytical solution in both one and three dimensions.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment
Publisher: IOP Publishing ltd
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to IOP Publishing ltd.
Keywords: dynamical processes (theory); dynamics (theory); metastable states; polymer elasticity and dynamics
Department/Centre: Division of Chemical Sciences > Inorganic & Physical Chemistry
Date Deposited: 25 Mar 2011 10:57
Last Modified: 25 Mar 2011 10:57
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/36185

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