Dresden 2009 – scientific programme
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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 5: Soft matter
DY 5.1: Talk
Monday, March 23, 2009, 14:45–15:00, ZEU 255
Thickness-Dependent Secondary Structure Formation of Tubelike Polymers — •Thomas Vogel1, Thomas Neuhaus2, Michael Bachmann1, and Wolfhard Janke1 — 1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Leipzig, Postfach 100 920, D-04009 Leipzig, Germany — 2John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC), Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
By means of sophisticated Monte Carlo methods, we investigate the conformational phase diagram of a simple model for flexible polymers with explicit thickness [1,2]. The thickness constraint, which is introduced geometrically via the global radius of curvature of a polymer conformation, accounts for the excluded volume of the polymer and induces cooperative effects supporting the formation of secondary structures [3]. In our detailed analysis of the temperature and thickness dependence of the conformational behavior for classes of short tubelike polymers, we find that known secondary-structure segments like helices and turns, but also ringlike conformations and stiff rods are dominant intrinsic topologies governing the phase behavior of such cooperative tubelike objects. This shows that the thickness constraint is indeed a fundamental physical parameter that allows for a classification of generic polymer classes.
[1] T. Vogel, T. Neuhaus, M. Bachmann, W.Janke, Europhys. Lett. (2009) (in print)
[2] T. Vogel, T. Neuhaus, M. Bachmann, W.Janke, to be published
[3] J.R. Banavar, A. Maritan, Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 23 (2003)