Panja, Debabrata, Barkema, Gerard T. and Ball, Robin (2008) Polymer translocation out of planar confinements. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol.20 (No.7). Article no. 075101. doi:10.1088/0953-8984/20/7/075101

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Abstract

Polymer translocation in three dimensions out of planar confinements is studied in this paper. Three membranes are located at z = -h, z = 0 and z = h(1). These membranes are impenetrable, except for the middle one at z = 0, which has a narrow pore. A polymer with length N is initially sandwiched between the membranes placed at z = -h and z = 0 and translocates through this pore. We consider strong confinement (small h), where the polymer is essentially reduced to a two-dimensional polymer, with a radius of gyration scaling as R-g((2D)) similar to N-nu 2D; here, nu(2D) = 0.75 is the Flory exponent in two dimensions. The polymer performs Rouse dynamics. On the basis of theoretical analysis and high-precision simulation data, we show that in the unbiased case h = h(1), the dwell time tau(d) scales as N2+nu 2D, in perfect agreement with our previously published theoretical framework. For h(1) = infinity, the situation is equivalent to field-driven translocation in two dimensions. We show that in this case tau(d) scales as N-2 nu 2D, in agreement with several existing numerical results in the literature. This result violates the earlier reported lower bound N1+nu for tau(d) for field-driven translocation. We argue, on the basis of energy conservation, that the actual lower bound for tau(d) is N-2 nu and not N1+nu. Polymer translocation in such theoretically motivated geometries thus resolves some of the most fundamental issues that have been the subject of much heated debate in recent times.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics Q Science > QP Physiology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Polymers -- Physiological transport -- Mathematical models
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
Publisher:	IOP Publishing Ltd
ISSN:	0953-8984
Official Date:	2008
Dates:	Date Event 2008 Published
Volume:	Vol.20
Number:	No.7
Number of Pages:	9
Page Range:	Article no. 075101
DOI:	10.1088/0953-8984/20/7/075101
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access

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