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Transverse fluctuations of grafted polymers

Gianluca Lattanzi, Tobias Munk, Erwin Frey

physics.bio-pharXiv:physics/0311012

Abstract

We study the statistical mechanics of grafted polymers of arbitrary stiffness in a two-dimensional embedding space with Monte Carlo simulations. The probability distribution function of the free end is found to be highly anisotropic and non-Gaussian for typical semiflexible polymers. The reduced distribution in the transverse direction, a Gaussian in the stiff and flexible limits, shows a double peak structure at intermediate stiffnesses. We also explore the response to a transverse force applied at the polymer free end. We identify F-Actin as an ideal benchmark for the effects discussed.

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