67 research outputs found
Equilibration of Long Chain Polymer Melts in Computer Simulations
Several methods for preparing well equilibrated melts of long chains polymers
are studied. We show that the standard method in which one starts with an
ensemble of chains with the correct end-to-end distance arranged randomly in
the simulation cell and introduces the excluded volume rapidly, leads to
deformation on short length scales. This deformation is strongest for long
chains and relaxes only after the chains have moved their own size. Two methods
are shown to overcome this local deformation of the chains. One method is to
first pre-pack the Gaussian chains, which reduces the density fluctuations in
the system, followed by a gradual introduction of the excluded volume. The
second method is a double-pivot algorithm in which new bonds are formed across
a pair of chains, creating two new chains each substantially different from the
original. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods for a linear bead
spring polymer model with both zero and nonzero bending stiffness, however the
methods are applicable to more complex architectures such as branched and star
polymer.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
Noise-induced oscillatory shuttling of NF-{\kappa}B in a two compartment IKK-NF-{\kappa}B-I{\kappa}B-A20 signaling model
NF-{\kappa}B is a pleiotropic protein whose nucleo-cytoplasmic trafficking is
tightly regulated by multiple negative feedback loops embedded in the
NF-{\kappa}B signaling network and contributes to diverse gene expression
profiles important in immune cell differentiation, cell apoptosis, and innate
immunity. The intracellular signaling processes and their control mechanisms,
however, are susceptible to both extrinsic and intrinsic noise. In this
article, we present numerical evidence for a universal dynamic behavior of
NF-{\kappa}B, namely oscillatory nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling, due to the
fundamentally stochastic nature of the NF-{\kappa}B signaling network. We
simulated the effect of extrinsic noise with a deterministic ODE model, using a
statistical ensemble approach, generating many copies of the signaling network
with different kinetic rates sampled from a biologically feasible parameter
space. We modeled the effect of intrinsic noise by simulating the same networks
stochastically using the Gillespie algorithm. The results demonstrate that
extrinsic noise diversifies the shuttling patterns of NF-{\kappa}B response,
whereas intrinsic noise induces oscillatory behavior in many of the otherwise
non-oscillatory patterns. We identify two key model parameters which
significantly affect the NF-{\kappa}B dynamic response and deduce a
two-dimensional phase-diagram of the NF-{\kappa}B response as a function of
these parameters. We conclude that if single-cell experiments are performed, a
rich variety of NF-{\kappa}B response will be observed, even if
population-level experiments, which average response over large numbers of
cells, do not evidence oscillatory behavior.Comment: 49 pages, 12 figure
Evaporation of Lennard-Jones Fluids
Evaporation and condensation at a liquid/vapor interface are ubiquitous
interphase mass and energy transfer phenomena that are still not well
understood. We have carried out large scale molecular dynamics simulations of
Lennard-Jones (LJ) fluids composed of monomers, dimers, or trimers to
investigate these processes with molecular detail. For LJ monomers in contact
with a vacuum, the evaporation rate is found to be very high with significant
evaporative cooling and an accompanying density gradient in the liquid domain
near the liquid/vapor interface. Increasing the chain length to just dimers
significantly reduces the evaporation rate. We confirm that mechanical
equilibrium plays a key role in determining the evaporation rate and the
density and temperature profiles across the liquid/vapor interface. The
velocity distributions of evaporated molecules and the evaporation and
condensation coefficients are measured and compared to the predictions of an
existing model based on kinetic theory of gases. Our results indicate that for
both monatomic and polyatomic molecules, the evaporation and condensation
coefficients are equal when systems are not far from equilibrium and smaller
than one, and decrease with increasing temperature. For the same reduced
temperature , where is the critical temperature, these two
coefficients are higher for LJ dimers and trimers than for monomers, in
contrast to the traditional viewpoint that they are close to unity for
monatomic molecules and decrease for polyatomic molecules. Furthermore, data
for the two coefficients collapse onto a master curve when plotted against a
translational length ratio between the liquid and vapor phase.Comment: revised version, 15 pages, 15 figures, to appear in J. Chem. Phy
Confined granular packings: structure, stress, and forces
The structure and stresses of static granular packs in cylindrical containers
are studied using large-scale discrete element molecular dynamics simulations
in three dimensions. We generate packings by both pouring and sedimentation and
examine how the final state depends on the method of construction. The vertical
stress becomes depth-independent for deep piles and we compare these stress
depth-profiles to the classical Janssen theory. The majority of the tangential
forces for particle-wall contacts are found to be close to the Coulomb failure
criterion, in agreement with the theory of Janssen, while particle-particle
contacts in the bulk are far from the Coulomb criterion. In addition, we show
that a linear hydrostatic-like region at the top of the packings unexplained by
the Janssen theory arises because most of the particle-wall tangential forces
in this region are far from the Coulomb yield criterion. The distributions of
particle-particle and particle-wall contact forces exhibit
exponential-like decay at large forces in agreement with previous studies.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PRE (v2) added new references,
fixed typo
Granular Flow Down an Inclined Plane: Bagnold Scaling and Rheology
We have performed a systematic, large-scale simulation study of granular media in two and three dimensions, investigating the rheology of cohesionless granular particles in inclined plane geometries, i.e., chute flows. We find that over a wide range of parameter space of interaction coefficients and inclination angles, a steady-state flow regime exists in which the energy input from gravity balances that dissipated from friction and inelastic collisions. In this regime, the bulk packing fraction (away from the top free surface and the bottom plate boundary) remains constant as a function of depth z, of the pile. The velocity profile in the direction of flow vx(z) scales with height of the pile H, according to vx(z)∝Hα, with α=1.52±0.05. However, the behavior of the normal stresses indicates that existing simple theories of granular flow do not capture all of the features evidenced in the simulations
Dynamical heterogeneities in a supercooled Lennard-Jones liquid
We present the results of a large scale molecular dynamics computer
simulation study in which we investigate whether a supercooled Lennard-Jones
liquid exhibits dynamical heterogeneities. We evaluate the non-Gaussian
parameter for the self part of the van Hove correlation function and use it to
identify ``mobile'' particles. We find that these particles form clusters whose
size grows with decreasing temperature. We also find that the relaxation time
of the mobile particles is significantly shorter than that of the bulk, and
that this difference increases with decreasing temperature.Comment: 8 pages of RevTex, 4 ps figure
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