Active Topological Glass Confined within a Spherical Cavity

I Chubak and SM Pachong and K Kremer and CN Likos and J Smrek, MACROMOLECULES, 55, 956-964 (2022).

DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.1c02471

We study active topological glass under spherical confinement, allowing us to exceed the chain lengths simulated previously and determine the critical exponents of the arrested conformations. We find a previously unresolved "tank-treading" dynamic mode of active segments along the ring contour. This mode can enhance active-passive phase separation in the state of active topological glass when both diffusional and conformational relaxation of the rings are significantly suppressed. Within the observational time, we see no systematic trends in the positioning of the separated active domains within the confining sphere. The arrested state exhibits coherent stochastic rotations. We discuss possible connections of the conformational and dynamic features of the system to chromosomes enclosed in the nucleus of a living cell.

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