Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

DNA Nanotubes as a Versatile Tool to Study Semiflexible Polymers
Published on: October 25, 2017
Entropic stochastic resonance of a flexible polymer chain in a confined system
Zhen Zhang1, Hanshuang Chen, Zhonghuai Hou
1Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
We have studied the dynamics of a flexible polymer chain in constrained dumb-bell-shape geometry subject to a periodic force and external noise along the longitudinal direction. It is found that the system exhibits a feature of entropic stochastic resonance (ESR), i.e., the temporal coherence of the polymer motion can reach a maximum level for an optimal noise intensity. We demonstrate that the occurrence of ESR is robust to the change of chain length, while the bottleneck width should be properly chosen. A gravity force in the vertical direction is not necessary for the ESR here, however, the elastic coupling between polymer beads is crucial.
Related Concept Videos
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Chain Branching
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Radical Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution
Free-Radical Chain Reaction and Polymerization of Alkenes

