中国物理B ›› 2017, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (3): 38701-038701.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/26/3/038701

• INTERDISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

Thermal properties of a two-dimensional intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymer

Zicong Zhou(周子聪), Yanting Wang(王延颋)   

  1. 1 Department of Physics, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, China;
    2 CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    3 School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 收稿日期:2016-11-17 修回日期:2016-12-09 出版日期:2017-03-05 发布日期:2017-03-05
  • 通讯作者: Zicong Zhou E-mail:zzhou@mail.tku.edu.tw
  • 基金资助:

    Project supported by the Minister of Science and Technology of China

Thermal properties of a two-dimensional intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymer

Zicong Zhou(周子聪)1, Yanting Wang(王延颋)2,3   

  1. 1 Department of Physics, Tamkang University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, China;
    2 CAS Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China;
    3 School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2016-11-17 Revised:2016-12-09 Online:2017-03-05 Published:2017-03-05
  • Contact: Zicong Zhou E-mail:zzhou@mail.tku.edu.tw
  • Supported by:

    Project supported by the Minister of Science and Technology of China

摘要:

We study the behaviors of mean end-to-end distance and specific heat of a two-dimensional intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymer with a hard-core excluded volume interaction. We find the mean square end-to-end distance RN2Nβ at large N, with N being the number of monomers. Both β and proportional constant are dependent on the reduced bending rigidity κ and intrinsic curvature c. The larger the c, the smaller the proportional constant, and 1.5≥β≥1. Up to a moderate κ=κc, or down to a moderate temperature T=Tc, β=1.5, the same as that of a self-avoiding random walk, and the larger the intrinsic curvature, the smaller the κc. However, at a large κ or a low temperature, β is close to 1, and the conformation of the biopolymer can be more compact than that of a random walk. There is an intermediate regime with 1.5 > β > 1 and the transition from β=1.5 to β=1 is smooth. The specific heat of the system increases smoothly with increasing κ or there is no peak in the specific heat. Therefore, a nonvanishing intrinsic curvature seriously affects the thermal properties of a semiflexible biopolymer, but there is no phase transition in the system.

关键词: thermal property, semiflexible biopolymer, intrinsic curvature

Abstract:

We study the behaviors of mean end-to-end distance and specific heat of a two-dimensional intrinsically curved semiflexible biopolymer with a hard-core excluded volume interaction. We find the mean square end-to-end distance RN2Nβ at large N, with N being the number of monomers. Both β and proportional constant are dependent on the reduced bending rigidity κ and intrinsic curvature c. The larger the c, the smaller the proportional constant, and 1.5≥β≥1. Up to a moderate κ=κc, or down to a moderate temperature T=Tc, β=1.5, the same as that of a self-avoiding random walk, and the larger the intrinsic curvature, the smaller the κc. However, at a large κ or a low temperature, β is close to 1, and the conformation of the biopolymer can be more compact than that of a random walk. There is an intermediate regime with 1.5 > β > 1 and the transition from β=1.5 to β=1 is smooth. The specific heat of the system increases smoothly with increasing κ or there is no peak in the specific heat. Therefore, a nonvanishing intrinsic curvature seriously affects the thermal properties of a semiflexible biopolymer, but there is no phase transition in the system.

Key words: thermal property, semiflexible biopolymer, intrinsic curvature

中图分类号:  (Filaments, microtubules, their networks, and supramolecular assemblies)

  • 87.16.Ka
87.15.hp (Conformational changes) 87.15.ak (Monte Carlo simulations) 87.15.Zg (Phase transitions)