Time- and ensemble-average statistical mechanics of the Gaussian Network Model

Abstract

We present analytical results (up to a numerical diagonalization of a real symmetric matrix) for a set of time- and ensemble-average physical observables in the non-Hookean Gaussian Network Model (GNM) - a generalization of the Rouse model to elastic networks with links with a certain degree of extensional and rotational stiffness. We focus on a set of coarse-grained observables that may be of interest in the analysis of GNM in the context of internal motions in proteins and mechanical frames in contact with a heat bath. A C++ computer code is made available that implements all analytical results.