The effect of thermal fluctuations on elastic instabilities of biopolymers

Emanuel, M.D. (2012)

Doctoral Thesis

The influence of temperature on various elastic properties of DNA is analyzed close to elastic instabilities. The buckling transition under compression is interpreted as decreasing. Under torsion a first order phase transition is described ending in an important multi-plectoneme phase that changes to a line of critical points in the infinite chain limit.

• Semi-flexible polymers
• Buckling transition
• Supercoiling
• Multi-plectoneme phase
• Chromatin
• Polymer physics
• Elasticity of DNA

• All authors: Emanuel, M.D.
• Supervisor: Schiessel, H.
• Committee: Frey, E.; Odijk, T.; Vitelli, V.; Eliel, E.R.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Science, Leiden University
• Date: 2012-04-04
• Title of host publication: Casimir PhD Series
• ISBN (print): 9789085931287
• Name: 2011-17
• Court: LEI Universiteit Leiden