Maxwell viscoelastic dynamics of the DNA in the THz range

TL;DR

This paper investigates the viscoelastic behavior of DNA in the THz frequency range, showing that phonon mode attenuation due to water exchange may be small enough to permit phonon propagation.

Contribution

It introduces a Maxwell relaxation model combined with a lattice model to analyze DNA phonon attenuation in the THz range, highlighting potential phonon propagation.

Findings

Attenuation tends to a constant at high frequencies

Water exchange influences phonon damping

Propagation of phonon modes is possible in the THz range

Abstract

The attenuation of phonon modes of the DNA is due to the exchange of water molecules adsorbed by a molecule of DNA and the bulk solvent. Using Maxwell's mechanism of relaxation and a simple lattice model of the DNA, we show that the attenuation tends to a constant value for phonon frequencies larger than the inverse residence time of water molecules. We come to the conclusion that in the THz range the attenuation could be small enough to allow the propagation of the phonon modes.