Entropic stochastic resonance of a flexible polymer chain in a confined system

Abstract

We have studied the dynamics of a flexible polymer chain in constrained dumb-bell-shape geometry subject to a periodic force and external noise along the longitudinal direction. It is found that the system exhibits a feature of entropic stochastic resonance (ESR), i.e., the temporal coherence of the polymer motion can reach a maximum level for an optimal noise intensity. We demonstrate that the occurrence of ESR is robust to the change of chain length, while the bottleneck width should be properly chosen. A gravity force in the vertical direction is not necessary for the ESR here, however, the elastic coupling between polymer beads is crucial.