Packing Structure of Filamentous Matter

GÓMEZ, LEOPOLDO R.

Erlangen

Seminario; Wednesday seminars; 2019

Institute Multiscale Simulation

Unravelling the packing structure of dense assemblies of semiflexiblerings is not only fundamental for the dynamical description ofpolymer rings, but also key to understand biopackaging,such as observed in circular DNA of viruses or genome folding. Herewe use X-ray tomography to study the geometrical and topologicalfeatures of disordered packings of rubber bands in a cylindrical container.Assemblies of short bands assume a liquid-like disorderedstructure, with short-range orientational order and reveal only minorinfluence of the container. In the case of longer bands, the confinementcauses folded configurations and the bands interpenetrateand entangle. Most of the systems are found to display a threadingnetwork which percolates the system. Surprisingly, for long bandswhose diameter doubles the diameter of the container, we foundthat all bands interpenetrate each other, in a complex fully-entangledstructure.