Localization of knots

• Applicant: Dr. Peter Virnau
• Subject Area: Preparatory and Physical Chemistry of Polymers
• Term: from 2003 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5419131

Within the framework of this project we would like to investigateself-entanglements of long polymer chains in the swollen and the collapsed state by means of computer simulations. In this context we will develop tools to determine the size, location and distribution of knots along the chains.Knots also occur naturally in many biologically relevant systems like proteins and viral DNA. We will use our tools to compare our simulations with structures found in biological data banks.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Mehran Kardar