8.592 - HST.452J (Spring 2022)
Statistical Physics in Biology
Lecture 11
(Please note that lecture is being recorded)
8.592 in 4-265 on 03/02/2022 at 2:30PM
Statistical Physics of Polymers
Polymers are long covalently bonded macromolecules, with N>>1 monomers
Biological polymers: Polynucleotides, polypeptides, polysaccharides
Homopolymers, heteropolymers
Artificial polymers, e.g (-CHH-)
N
How straight is a polymer?
Thermal excitation of rotational isomores
Bending rigidity and Persistence length
Entropic elasticity:
Random walks, Kuhn segments, and the central limit theorem
Polymer spring
Interactions:
Excluded volume; role of solvent
Mean-field estimate of the partition function
Applet for self-avoiding walks
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Lecture notes
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8.592
lec11- last update 2/27/22 by M. Kardar