Emanuele Locatelli — University of Padova #
Conformation and dynamics of active polymers in bulk and under confinement #
Active systems, due to the local breaking of equilibrium, allow for phenomena that their equilibrium counterparts cannot attain, such as meso/macroscopic structure formation. In the case of polar active polymers, i.e. polymers made of active monomers whose activity is directed as the local tangent to the polymer backbone, a coil-to-globule transition occurs[1].  We discuss the properties of isolated polymers in bulk, with particular focus on an active Rouse theory for the coil-to-globule transition [2]. Further, we examine the system in cylindrical[3] as well as in corrugated[4] nano-channels and show that the dynamical properties of these systems can be rationalised with simple theoretical approaches.  References [1] V. Bianco, E. Locatelli, and P. Malgaretti, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 217802 (2018). [2] P. Malgaretti, E. Locatelli, C. Valeriani, arXiv:2404.12470 (2024)  [3] J.Martín-Roca, E. Locatelli, V. Bianco, P. Malgaretti, C. Valeriani, arXiv:2405.02192 (2024)  [4] J.Martín-Roca, V. Bianco, E. Locatelli et.al., in preparation