Tangentially Driven Active Polar Linear Polymers -- An Analytical Study

TL;DR

This analytical study investigates how tangential active forces influence the dynamics of flexible polar linear polymers, revealing activity-driven regimes and mode coupling effects, while conformations remain unaffected.

Contribution

It provides an analytical framework for understanding active polar polymer dynamics, highlighting the impact of tangential forces and mode coupling, a novel approach in active polymer research.

Findings

Polymer conformations are unaffected by activity.

Active forces induce ballistic and enhanced diffusion regimes.

Mode coupling significantly influences polymer dynamics.

Abstract

The conformational and dynamical properties of isolated flexible active polar linear polymers (APLPs) are studied analytically. The APLPs are modeled as Gaussian bead-spring linear chains augmented by tangential active forces, both in a discrete and continuous representations. The polar forces lead to linear non-Hermitian equations of motion, which are solved by an eigenfunction expansion in terms of a biorthogonal basis set. Our calculations show that the polymer conformations are independent of activity. On the contrary, tangential propulsion strongly impacts the polymer dynamics and yields an active ballistic regime as well as activity-enhanced long-time diffusion, regimes which are both absent in passive systems. The polar forces imply a coupling of modes in the eigenfunction representation, in particular with the translational mode, with a respective strong influence on the polymer dynamics. The total polymer mean-square displacement on scales smaller than their radius of gyration is determined by the active internal dynamics rather than the collective center-of-mass motion, in contrast to active Brownian polymers, reflecting the distinct difference in the propulsion mechanism.