The linking number and the writhe of uniform random walks and polygons in confined spaces

DOI10.1088/1751-8113/43/4/045208zbMATH Open1187.82052arXiv0907.3805OpenAlexW3105607542MaRDI QIDQ3407871FDOQ3407871

Authors: Eleni Panagiotou, Kenneth C. Millett, Sofia Lambropoulou 

Publication date: 24 February 2010

Published in: Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Random walks and polygons are used to model polymers. In this paper we consider the extension of writhe, self-linking number and linking number to open chains. We then study the average writhe, self-linking and linking number of random walks and polygons over the space of configurations as a function of their length. We show that the mean squared linking number, the mean squared writhe and the mean squared self-linking number of oriented uniform random walks or polygons of length $n$, in a convex confined space, are of the form $O(n^2)$. Moreover, for a fixed simple closed curve in a convex confined space, we prove that the mean absolute value of the linking number between this curve and a uniform random walk or polygon of $n$ edges is of the form $O(sqrtn)$. Our numerical studies confirm those results. They also indicate that the mean absolute linking number between any two oriented uniform random walks or polygons, of $n$ edges each, is of the form O(n). Equilateral random walks and polygons are used to model polymers in $heta$-conditions. We use numerical simulations to investigate how the self-linking and linking number of equilateral random walks scale with their length.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0907.3805

Recommendations

• Linking of uniform random polygons in confined spaces
• Random linking of lattice polygons
• Linking number and writhe in random linear embeddings of graphs
• The second Vassiliev measure of uniform random walks and polygons in confined space
• The growth of the mean average crossing number of equilateral polygons in confinement

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Biochemistry, molecular biology (92C40) Random walks, random surfaces, lattice animals, etc. in equilibrium statistical mechanics (82B41) Statistical mechanics of polymers (82D60)

Cited In (20)

• The growth of the mean average crossing number of equilateral polygons in confinement
• The average inter-crossing number of equilateral random walks and polygons
• Modeling of chromosome intermingling by partially overlapping uniform random polygons
• Scaling of linking and writhing numbers for spherically confined and topologically equilibrated flexible polymers
• The second Vassiliev measure of uniform random walks and polygons in confined space
• The local topological free energy of proteins
• Linking number of monotonic cycles in random book embeddings of complete graphs
• Linking number and writhe in random linear embeddings of graphs
• Polymers with spatial or topological constraints: theoretical and computational results
• Linking and link complexity of geometrically constrained pairs of rings
• Models of random knots
• The linking number in systems with periodic boundary conditions
• Folding complexity in a random-walk copolymer model
• Curvature of random walks and random polygons in confinement
• A topological study of protein folding kinetics
• LINKING OF RANDOM p-SPHERES IN Z^d
• Linking matrices in systems with periodic boundary conditions
• The mean sum of squared linking numbers of random piecewise-linear embeddings of \(\mathrm{K}_n\)
• On the mean and variance of the writhe of random polygons
• Linking of uniform random polygons in confined spaces

This page was built for publication: The linking number and the writhe of uniform random walks and polygons in confined spaces

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q3407871)