# Anisotropic Hydrodynamic Mean-Field Theory for Semiflexible Polymers under Tension

## TL;DR

This paper develops an anisotropic mean-field theory to accurately describe the dynamics of semiflexible polymers under intermediate tension, capturing hydrodynamic interactions, stiffness, and fluctuations without extra fitting.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel anisotropic mean-field approach that precisely models semiflexible polymer dynamics under tension, validated against simulations and experiments.

## Key findings

- Accurately reproduces equilibrium averages of stretched polymers.
- Matches Brownian hydrodynamics simulations and optical tweezer data.
- Effective across a broad range of intermediate tensions.

## Abstract

We introduce an anisotropic mean-field approach for the dynamics of semiflexible polymers under intermediate tension, the force range where a chain is partially extended but not in the asymptotic regime of a nearly straight contour. The theory is designed to exactly reproduce the lowest order equilibrium averages of a stretched polymer, and treats the full complexity of the problem: the resulting dynamics include the coupled effects of long-range hydrodynamic interactions, backbone stiffness, and large-scale polymer contour fluctuations. Validated by Brownian hydrodynamics simulations and comparison to optical tweezer measurements on stretched DNA, the theory is highly accurate in the intermediate tension regime over a broad dynamical range, without the need for additional dynamic fitting parameters.