Undulation-enhanced electrostatic forces in hexagonal polyelectrolyte gels

Abstract

A self-consistent theory is developed for the hexagonal phase of semiflexible polyelectrolytes. The electrostatic interactions analyzed in the Poisson-Bolzmann approximation, couple non-linearly to the undulations of the polyions so that the intermolecular forces may be enhanced by an order of magnitude. The theory is in good agreement with the osmotic stress measurements on DNA by Podgornik et al. It also seems to bear on unresolved discrepancies arising in stress experiments on tobacco mosaic virus and muscle thin filament.