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Analytical and Numerical Methods for Capturing the Thermal Fluctuations of Semiflexible Polymers
Author(s) -
Poelert Sander L.,
Zadpoor Amir A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
macromolecular theory and simulations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1521-3919
pISSN - 1022-1344
DOI - 10.1002/mats.201100110
Subject(s) - brownian dynamics , polymer , finite element method , statistical physics , thermal fluctuations , brownian motion , thermal , mechanobiology , mechanics , materials science , biological system , physics , thermodynamics , composite material , genetics , quantum mechanics , biology
Semiflexible polymers that are submerged in a viscous fluid of finite temperature continuously fluctuate. An accurate description of such thermal fluctuations of single semiflexible polymers forms the corner stone of research on both synthetic and biological polymers in a wide variety of research fields, such as material science, mechanobiology, biophysics and bioengineering. The current study presents an overview of both analytical and numerical coarse‐grained models that capture the Brownian dynamics of single semiflexible polymers. These models include the worm‐like chain model, bead–rod, bead–spring and finite element models. The limitations of the discussed methods are addressed and suggestions are made for further research.