Eur. Phys. J. E 6, 117-121 (2001)

Quasi-quantization of writhe in ideal knots

P. Pieranski and S. Przybyl

Poznan University of Technology, Nieszawska 13, 60 965 Poznan, Poland

Piotr.Pieranski@put.poznan.pl

(Received 29 February 2001 and Received in final form 17 August 2001)

Abstract
The values of writhe of the tightest conformations, found by the SONO algorithm, of all alternating prime knots with up to 10 crossings are analysed. The distribution of the writhe values is shown to be concentrated around the equally spaced levels. The "writhe quantum" is shown to be close to the rational 4/7 value. The deviation of the writhe values from the n (4/7) writhe levels scheme is analysed quantitatively.

PACS
87.16.Ac - Subcellular structure and processes: Theory and modeling; computer simulation.
02.10.Kn - Knot theory.


© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2001