Conformational Properties of Active Semiflexible Polymers

Area of Science:

• Polymer Physics
• Soft Matter Physics
• Statistical Mechanics

Background:

• Polymers in solution are often influenced by surrounding active particles or internal dynamics.
• Understanding polymer behavior under these active conditions is crucial for various applications.
• Previous studies have explored polymer dynamics but often simplified the active noise or polymer models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To theoretically investigate the conformational properties of flexible and semiflexible polymers under active noise.
• To analyze the impact of finite polymer extensibility on polymer conformations.
• To elucidate the dependence of polymer relaxation times and conformations on activity levels.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis using the continuous Gaussian semiflexible polymer model.
• Incorporation of finite polymer extensibility in the model.
• Analytical calculations to determine polymer dynamics and conformational properties.

Main Results:

• Active noise significantly influences polymer relaxation times and conformations.
• Semiflexible polymers show a crossover in dynamics from bending elasticity to flexible behavior with increasing activity.
• Significant activity-induced polymer shrinkage is observed, with polymers swelling at high activities.

Conclusions:

• Finite polymer extensibility is essential for accurately describing polymer conformations in active environments.
• The study provides insights into activity-induced polymer shrinkage and swelling.
• The findings highlight the complex interplay between polymer flexibility, activity, and conformational changes.