Damping of DNA vibration modes by viscous solvents

The problem of viscous damping of vibrating DNA polymer in aqueous solution is solved in the low‐amplitude limit for all acoustic branches of the spectrum. The acoustic spectrum covers the microwave region of frequencies. The viscious damping is found to be a strong function of frequency, singular both at very low and very high frequencies. All acoustic modes are overdamped, implying that the observation of well‐defined resonances in DNA requires highly structured water or very dry material.