Molecular elasticity and the geometric phase

Abstract

We present a method for solving the wormlike-chain (WLC) model for twisting semiflexible polymers to any desired accuracy. We show that the WLC free energy is a periodic function of the applied twist with period 4pi. We develop an analogy between WLC elasticity and the geometric phase of a spin-(1/2) system. These analogies are used to predict elastic properties of twist-storing polymers. We graphically display the elastic response of a single molecule to an applied torque. This study is relevant to mechanical properties of biopolymers such as DNA.