Elasticity model of a supercoiled DNA molecule
C. Bouchiat, M. Mezard
Abstract
Within a simple elastic theory, we study the elongation versus force characteristics of a supercoiled DNA molecule at thermal equilibrium in the regime of small supercoiling. The partition function is mapped to the path integral representation for a quantum charged particle in the field of a magnetic monopole with unquantized charge. We show that the theory is singular in the continuum limit and must be regularised at an intermediate length scale. We find good agreement with existing experimental data, and point out how to measure the twist rigidity accurately.
Create a lesson
Related papers
Active Sculpting: morphodynamics of internally stirred active vesicles
Devadevan M M, Brato Chakrabarti
Emergent medium-range order in amorphous silicon
Zhen Zhang, Stephen R. Elliott, Yujie Wang et al.
Complex pattern in periodically driven binary Quincke colloids
Chuan Yu Zhang, Mu Yue Zhao, Xiao Yi Zhou et al.
Why shaking faster does not untangle: frequency-selective extraction of filaments from tangled matter
Ishant Tiwari, Sutikshan Bansal, Rosalind Huang et al.
Geometry-Encoded Hidden Orientational Memory
Vladimir A. Baulin
Curie-Weiss cell fluid model: Fitting to experimental critical-point data
I. V. Pylyuk, O. A. Dobush, M. P. Kozlovskii et al.