Writhe induced phase transition in unknotted self-avoiding polygons

Abstract

Recently it has been argued that weighting the writhe of unknotted self-avoiding polygons can be related to possible experiments that turn double stranded DNA. We first solve exactly a directed model and demonstrate that in such a subset of polygons the problem of weighting their writhe is associated with a phase transition. We then analyse simulations using the Wang-Landau algorithm to observe scaling in the fluctuations of the writhe that is compatible with a second-order phase transition in a undirected self-avoiding polygon model. Crucially, we conclude that the transition becomes apparent when the polygon is stretched sufficiently with a pulling force.