Confinement induces conformational transition of semiflexible polymer rings to figure eight form

TL;DR

This paper uses Monte Carlo simulations to show that weak spherical confinement causes semiflexible polymer rings to transition into a figure-eight shape, revealing new insights into their conformational behavior.

Contribution

It demonstrates, through simulations, that confinement induces a specific conformational transition in semiflexible polymer rings to a figure-eight form.

Findings

Confinement causes a transition to figure-eight shapes.

The transition is quantified through simulations.

Writhed configurations are stabilized under confinement.

Abstract

Employing Monte Carlo simulations of semiflexible polymer rings in weak spherical confinement a conformational transition to figure eight shaped, writhed configurations is discovered and quantified.