Eur. Phys. J. E 3, 295-306
Semi-flexible polymers with attractive interactions
R. Bundschuh - M. Lässig - R. Lipowsky
MPI für Kolloid- and Grenzflächenforschung Am Mühlenberg,
14476 Golm, Germany
lipowsky@mpikg-golm.mpg.de
Received 15 December 1999 and Received in final form 19 May 2000
Abstract
The delocalization and unbinding transitions of two
semi-flexible polymers which experience attractive interactions are
studied by a variety of theoretical methods. In two-dimensional
systems, one has to distinguish four different universality classes
for the interaction potentials. In particular, the delocalization
transitions from a potential well and the unbinding transitions
from such a well in the presence of a hard wall exhibit distinct
critical behavior governed by different critical exponents. In
three-dimensional systems, we predict first-order transitions with
a jump in the energy density but with critical or self-similar
fluctuations leading to distribution functions with power law
tails. The predicted critical behavior is confirmed numerically by
transfer matrix calculations in two dimensions and by Monte Carlo
simulations in three dimensions. This behavior should be accessible
to experiments on biopolymers such as actin filaments or
microtubuli.
PACS
64.60.Fr Equilibrium properties near critical points,
critical exponents
- 61.41.+e Polymers, elastomers, and plastics
- 05.40.-a Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise,
and Brownian motion
Copyright EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag
