5 research outputs found
Manipulating a single adsorbed DNA for a critical endpoint
We show the existence of a critical endpoint in the phase diagram of
unzipping of an adsorbed double-stranded (ds) polymer like DNA. The competition
of base pairing, adsorption and stretching by an external force leads to the
critical end point. From exact results, the location of the critical end point
is determined and its classical nature established.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Published versio
Unzipping DNA by force: thermodynamics and finite size behaviour
We discuss the thermodynamic behaviour near the force induced unzipping
transition of a double stranded DNA in two different ensembles. The Y-fork is
identified as the coexisting phases in the fixed distance ensemble. From finite
size scaling of thermodynamic quantities like the extensibility, the length of
the unzipped segment of a Y-fork, the phase diagram can be recovered. We
suggest that such procedures could be used to obtain the thermodynamic phase
diagram from experiments on finite length DNA.Comment: 10 pages, accepted for publication in special issue of Journal of
Physics: Condensed Matte