Squeezed helical elastica

Lila Bouzar (1) , Martin Michael Müller (2) , Pierre Gosselin (3) , Igor Kulić (4) , Herve Mohrbach (4, 2)

1 USTHB - Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene = University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene [Alger]
2 Equipe BioPhysStat
3 IF - Institut Fourier
4 ICS - Institut Charles Sadron

We theoretically study the conformations of a helical semi-flexible filament confined to a flat surface. This squeezed helix exhibits a variety of unexpected shapes resembling circles, waves or spirals depending on the material parameters. We explore the conformation space in detail and show that the shapes can be understood as the mutual elastic interaction of conformational quasi-particles. Our theoretical results are potentially useful to determine the material parameters of such helical filaments in an experimental setting.

Domaines: Mathématiques [math]; Physique [physics]

Lila Bouzar, Martin Michael Müller, Pierre Gosselin, Igor Kulić, Herve Mohrbach. Squeezed helical elastica. European Physical Journal E: Soft matter and biological physics, 2016, 39 (11), ⟨10.1140/epje/i2016-16114-6⟩. ⟨hal-01978540⟩