Dynamics of a tagged monomer: Effects of elastic pinning and harmonic absorption

TL;DR

This paper investigates how elastic pinning and harmonic absorption influence the dynamics of a tagged monomer in a Rouse polymer, revealing steady-state independence from initial conditions and complex transient behaviors.

Contribution

It introduces an analysis of the effects of elastic pinning and harmonic absorption on monomer dynamics, highlighting their impact on transient regimes and steady states.

Findings

Steady state is independent of initial conditions under pinning or absorption.

Transient behavior exhibits non-monotonous and power-law relaxation.

Initial conditions strongly influence transient dynamics, not the steady state.

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a tagged monomer of a Rouse polymer for different initial configurations. In the case of free evolution, the monomer displays subdiffusive behavior with strong memory of the initial state. In presence of either elastic pinning or harmonic absorption, we show that the steady state is independent of the initial condition which however strongly affects the transient regime, resulting in non-monotonous behavior and power-law relaxation with varying exponents.