PMID 22587051
Ref Arxiv: 1111.4323
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.85.031120
WoS: 000301773200004
Ref. & Cit.: NASA ADS
22 Citations
Résumé:

We consider two complementary polymer strands of length $L$ attached by a common end monomer. The two strands bind through complementary monomers and at low temperatures form a double stranded conformation (zipping), while at high temperature they dissociate (unzipping). This is a simple model of DNA (or RNA) hairpin formation. Here we investigate the dynamics of the strands at the equilibrium critical temperature $T=T_c$ using Monte Carlo Rouse dynamics. We find that the dynamics is anomalous, with a characteristic time scaling as $\tau \sim L^{2.26(2)}$, exceeding the Rouse time $\sim L^{2.18}$. We investigate the probability distribution function, the velocity autocorrelation function, the survival probability and boundary behaviour of the underlying stochastic process. These quantities scale as expected from a fractional Brownian motion with a Hurst exponent $H=0.44(1)$. We discuss similarities and differences with unbiased polymer translocation.

Commentaires: 7 pages, 8 figures Journal: Phys. Rev. E 85, 031120 (2012)