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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Drift and diffusion of a confined semiflexible chain
1Institute of Fundamental Physics, Department of Physics, Sejong University, Seoul, South Korea.
Abstract:
We study the transverse and longitudinal linear response function of rigid chains subjected to an external force. Our main concern are stiff polymers confined in narrow pores with diameter less than their persistence length. We explicitly consider confinement in a transverse harmonic potential and generalize results by scaling arguments. Our results describe the drift of the filament under an external force, time evolution of the filament shape, and filament diffusion. Diffusion of a confined filament resembles the celebrated reptation process for flexible chains, albeit with distinct kinetic exponents. The limiting case of stiff free filaments is also mentioned.
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