Nonequilibrium dynamics of polymer translocation: a mean-field model

TL;DR

This paper presents a mean-field model for polymer translocation dynamics under strong force, predicting translocation time scaling and dependencies on force and temperature, aligning with previous simulations.

Contribution

The paper introduces a simple mean-field differential equation model capturing the translocation time scaling and dependencies, providing analytical insights into polymer translocation dynamics.

Findings

Translocation time scales as (number of monomers)^1.5.

Model predictions agree with previous simulation exponents.

Translocation time depends intricately on force and temperature variations.

Abstract

We analyse the dynamics of polymer translocation in the strong force regime by recasting the problem into solving a differential equation with a moving absorbing boundary. For the total translocation time, $\tau_{\rm tr}$, our simple mean-field model predicts that $\tau_{\rm tr}\sim$ (number of monomers)$^{1.5}$, which is in agreement with the exponent found in previous simulation results. Our model also predicts intricate dependencies of $\tau_{\rm tr}$ on the variations of the pulling force and of the temperature.