Critical dynamics of DNA denaturation

Abstract

We present detailed molecular dynamics results for the displacement autocorrelation spectra of the Peyrard-Bishop model of thermal DNA denaturation. As the phase transition is approached, the spectra depend on whether the wavelength is smaller than, or exceeds the correlation length. In the first case, the spectra are dominated by a single peak, whose frequency approaches the bare acoustic frequency of the harmonic chain, and whose linewidth approaches zero as $T_c-T$. In the second case, a central peak (CP) feature is dominant, accounting for most of the weight; the linewidth of the CP appears to be temperature-independent. We also present force autocorrelation spectra which may be relevant for analyzing the statistical properties of localized modes.