Polymer drift in a solvent by force acting on one polymer end

TL;DR

This paper studies how hydrodynamic interactions influence the non-equilibrium drift behavior of a flexible polymer under force, revealing nonlinear dynamics and different screening regimes depending on force and chain length.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of polymer drift under force, incorporating hydrodynamic interactions and identifying regimes with nonlinear and logarithmic corrections.

Findings

Velocity and elongation are nonlinear functions of force at moderate levels.

Hydrodynamic interactions are screened at large forces with finite chain length.

Logarithmic corrections appear in velocity and elongation for large chains and forces.

Abstract

We investigate the effect of hydrodynamic interactions on the non-equilibrium drift dynamics of an ideal flexible polymer pulled by a constant force applied at one end of the polymer using the perturbation theory and the renormalization group method. For moderate force, if the polymer elongation is small, the hydrodynamic interactions are not screened and the velocity and the longitudinal elongation of the polymer are computed using the renormalization group method. Both the velocity and elongation are nonlinear functions of the driving force in this regime. For large elongation we found two regimes. For large force but finite chain length $L$ the hydrodynamic interactions are screened. For large chain lengths and a finite force the hydrodynamic interactions are only partially screened, which in three dimensions results in unusual logarithmic corrections to the velocity and the longitudinal elongation.