Theory of pore-driven and end-pulled polymer translocation dynamics through a nanopore: An overview

TL;DR

This paper reviews the iso-flux tension propagation (IFTP) theory for polymer translocation through nanopores, comparing it with molecular dynamics simulations, and discusses its ability to predict translocation dynamics and scaling behaviors.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the IFTP theory applied to flexible and semi-flexible polymers, including extensions with trans side friction for better accuracy.

Findings

IFTP theory accurately describes translocation dynamics.

Waiting time distributions reveal detailed translocation behavior.

Inclusion of trans side friction improves model predictions.

Abstract

We review recent progress on the theory of dynamics of polymer translocation through a nanopore based on the iso-flux tension propagation (IFTP) theory. We investigate both pore-driven translocation of flexible and a semi-flexible polymers, and the end-pulled case of flexible chains by means of the IFTP theory and extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The validity of the IFTP theory can be quantified by the waiting time distributions of the monomers which reveal the details of the dynamics of the translocation process. The IFTP theory allows a parameter-free description of the translocation process and can be used to derive exact analytic scaling forms in the appropriate limits, including the influence due to the pore friction that appears as a finite-size correction to asymptotic scaling. We show that in the case of pore-driven semi-flexible and end-pulled polymer chains the IFTP theory must be augmented with an explicit {\it trans} side friction term for a quantitative description of the translocation process.