Minimal Surfaces on Unconcatenated Polymer Rings in Melt

Jan Smrek, Alexander Y. Grosberg

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    In order to quantify the effect of mutual threading on conformations and dynamics of unconcatenated and unknotted rings in the melt we computationally examine their minimal surfaces. We found a linear scaling of the surface area with the ring length. Minimal surfaces allow for an unambiguous algorithmic definition of mutual threading between rings. Based on it, we found that, although ring threading is frequent, majority of cases correspond to short loops. These findings explain why approximate theories that neglect threading are so unexpectedly successful despite having no small parameter justification. We also examine threading dynamics and identify the threading order parameter that reflects the ring diffusivity.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)750-754
    Number of pages5
    JournalACS Macro Letters
    Volume5
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jun 21 2016

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Organic Chemistry
    • Polymers and Plastics
    • Inorganic Chemistry
    • Materials Chemistry

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