Abstracts Category : Other

Polymer translocation: a nonequilibrium process

by Sarah C Vollmer

3D Langevin dynamics simulations of the capture and translocation of polymersthrough a nanopore are conducted for several polymer lengths and twodifferent P??clet values (that quantify the drift-diffusion balance of the system).By measuring the average conformation of the polymer and the average durationof each stage, simulations of the capture process reveal an elongatedpolymer approaching the nanopore and either remains elongated or becomescompressed just prior to translocation depending on the drift-diffusion balance.This is in direct contrast with the standard approach of simulating only thetranslocation process where the polymer is assumed to start translocation in anequilibrated state. The conformational differences directly impact scaling resultsof the translocation time by polymer length, where, even on a qualitativelevel, simulations that assume equilibration may yield incorrect results. Thecapture process is therefore an essential step for modelling and establishes thenonequilibrium nature of the translocation process.Advisors/Committee Members: de Haan, Hendrick W..