Effect of internal viscosity on Brownian dynamics of DNA molecules in shear flow

Abstract

The results of Brownian dynamics simulations of a single DNA molecule in shear flow are presented taking into account the effect of internal viscosity. The dissipative mechanism of internal viscosity is proved necessary in the research of DNA dynamics. A stochastic model is derived on the basis of the balance equation for forces acting on the chain. The Euler method is applied to the solution of the model. The extensions of DNA molecules for different Weissenberg numbers are analyzed. Comparison with the experimental results available in the literature is carried out to estimate the contribution of the effect of internal viscosity.