Critical evaluation of the computational methods used in the forced polymer translocation

Abstract

In forced polymer translocation, the average translocation time, $\tau$, scales with respect to pore force, $f$, and polymer length, $N$, as $\tau \sim f^{-1} N^{\beta}$. We demonstrate that an artifact in Metropolis Monte Carlo method resulting in breakage of the force scaling with large $f$ may be responsible for some of the controversies between different computationally obtained results and also between computational and experimental results. Using Langevin dynamics simulations we show that the scaling exponent $\beta \le 1 + \nu$ is not universal, but depends on $f$. Moreover, we show that forced translocation can be described by a relatively simple force balance argument and $\beta$ to arise solely from the initial polymer configuration.