Harmonically confined, semiflexible polymer in a channel: response to a stretching force and spatial distribution of the endpoints

TL;DR

This paper derives analytical expressions for the statistical properties of a semiflexible polymer confined by a parabolic potential and stretched by a force, focusing on endpoint distribution and response to stretching.

Contribution

It provides new analytic formulas for the partition function and endpoint distribution of a confined, stretched semiflexible polymer with various boundary conditions.

Findings

Analytic partition function expressions for the polymer.

Distribution of polymer endpoints analyzed.

Results applicable to different boundary conditions.

Abstract

We consider an inextensible, semiflexible polymer or worm-like chain which is confined in the transverse direction by a parabolic potential and subject to a longitudinal force at the ends, so that the polymer is stretched out and backfolding is negligible. Simple analytic expressions for the partition function, valid in this regime, are obtained for chains of arbitrary length with a variety of boundary conditions at the ends. The spatial distribution of the end points or radial distribution function is also analyzed.