Abstract
We apply results derived in other contexts for the spectrum of the Laplace operator in curved geometries to the study of an ideal polymer chain confined to a spherical annulus in arbitrary space dimension D and conclude that the free energy compared to its value for an uncurved box of the same thickness and volume is lower when D < 3, stays the same when D = 3, and is higher when D > 3. Thus, confining an ideal polymer chain to a cylindrical shell lowers the effective bending elasticity of the walls and might induce spontaneous symmetry breaking, i.e. bending. (Actually, the above mentioned results show that any shell in D = 3 induces this effect, except for a spherical shell.) We compute the contribution of this effect to the bending rigidities in the Helfrich free energy expression.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1173-1178 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Macromolecules |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 24 1997 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Organic Chemistry
- Polymers and Plastics
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Materials Chemistry