Viscous Nonlinear Dynamics of Twist and Writhe

作     者：Raymond E. Goldstein Thomas R. Powers Chris H. Wiggins 

作者机构：Department of Physics University of Arizona Tucson Arizona 85721 Program in Applied Mathematics University of Arizona Tucson Arizona 85721 Department of Physics Princeton University Princeton New Jersey 08544 

出 版 物：《Physical Review Letters》 (Phys Rev Lett)

年 卷 期：1998年第80卷第23期

页      面：5232-5232页

核心收录：

学科分类：07[理学] 0702[理学-物理学] 

摘      要：Exploiting the “natural frame of space curves, we formulate an intrinsic dynamics of a twisted elastic filament in a viscous fluid. Coupled nonlinear equations describing the temporal evolution of the filament s complex curvature and twist density capture the dynamic interplay of twist and writhe. These equations are used to illustrate a remarkable nonlinear phenomenon: geometric untwisting of open filaments, whereby twisting strains relax through a transient writhing instability without axial rotation. Experimentally observed writhing motions of fibers of the bacterium B. subtilis [N. H. Mendelson et al., J. Bacteriol. 177, 7060 (1995)] may be examples of this untwisting process.