Modeling semiflexible polymer networks

C. P. Broedersz and F. C. MacKintosh
Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 995 – Published 24 July 2014; Erratum Rev. Mod. Phys. 88, 039903 (2016)

Abstract

This is an overview of theoretical approaches to semiflexible polymers and their networks. Such semiflexible polymers have large bending rigidities that can compete with the entropic tendency of a chain to crumple up into a random coil. Many studies on semiflexible polymers and their assemblies have been motivated by their importance in biology. Indeed, cross-linked networks of semiflexible polymers form a major structural component of tissue and living cells. Reconstituted networks of such biopolymers have emerged as a new class of biological soft matter systems with remarkable material properties, which have spurred many of the theoretical developments discussed here. Starting from the mechanics and dynamics of individual semiflexible polymers, the physics of semiflexible bundles, entangled solutions, and disordered cross-linked networks are reviewed. Finally, recent developments on marginally stable fibrous networks, which exhibit critical behavior similar to other marginal systems such as jammed soft matter, are discussed.

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  • Received 2 September 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.86.995

© 2014 American Physical Society

Erratum

Erratum: Modeling semiflexible polymer networks [Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 995 (2014)]

C. P. Broedersz and F. C. MacKintosh
Rev. Mod. Phys. 88, 039903 (2016)

Authors & Affiliations

C. P. Broedersz*

  • Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA

F. C. MacKintosh

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  • *cbroeder@princeton.edu
  • fcm@nat.vu.nl

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Issue

Vol. 86, Iss. 3 — July - September 2014

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