On the connected-charges Thomson problem

@article{Slosar2006OnTC,
  title={On the connected-charges Thomson problem},
  author={An{\vz}e Slosar and R. Podgornik},
  journal={EPL},
  year={2006},
  volume={75},
  pages={631-637}
}
We investigate the modifications brought about by the linear connectivity among charges in the classical Thomson problem. Instead of packing with local hexagonal order interspersed with topological defects, we find charge distributions with helical symmetry wound around the surface of the sphere. This finding should have repercussions in the viral packing and macroion adsorption theories. 
View PDF on arXiv
17 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
1
Background Citations
3
Methods Citations
1

Figures from this paper

17 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Packing of charged chains on toroidal geometries.
TLDR
It is found that the electrostatic energy of confined chains on tori conforms to a power law regardless of the screening effect in some typical cases studied, and uniform packing, which breaks the mirror symmetry the least, has the lowest value of the order parameter.
ENERGY MINIMIZATION OF POINT CHARGES ON A SPHERE WITH PARTICLE SWARMS
TLDR
A method to study the Thomson problem of finding the lowest energy configuration of N point charges constrained to the surface of a unit sphere and the basic principles of thePSO metaheuristic, together with experimental results that confirm the effectiveness of the PSO approach.
Confined nematic polymers: order and packing in a nematic drop.
TLDR
This work solves the Euler-Lagrange equations numerically with the appropriate boundary conditions for the director and density field and investigates the orientation and density profile within a sphere of nematic polymers inside a confining hard sphere.
On the Packing of Stiff Rods on Ellipsoids Part II -- Entropy and Self Avoidance
Using a statistical - mechanics approach, we study the effects of geometry and entropy on the ordering of slender filaments inside non-isotropic containers, considering cortical microtubules in plant…
Structural transitions of encapsidated polyelectrolytes
TLDR
The various competing structures given by the theory were recovered by the Monte Carlo simulations, which indicated that the tennis ball texture was favored over the spiral structure by the long-range interactions for semi-flexible chains.
Packings of a charged line on a sphere.
  • S. Alben
  • Physics
    Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
  • 2008
TLDR
This work finds equilibrium configurations of open and closed lines of charge on a sphere, and tracks them with respect to varying sphere radius, finding the spiral shape is the unique stable equilibrium of the closed line.
Electrostatic potential between charged particles at an oil-water interface.
TLDR
The in-plane potential of a point charge at an interface between two electrolyte solutions with different, finite dielectric permittivities and Debye screening lengths is calculated and it is shown that the asymptotic behavior of this potential is neither a dipole, which characterizes the potential at air-water interfaces, nor a screened monopoles, which describes the bulk behavior in a single electrolyte solution.
Modelling of icosahedral viruses
Stochastic curvature of enclosed semiflexible polymers.
TLDR
A Monte Carlo algorithm is developed for use in computer simulations in order to study the conformational states in a compact domain and the case of a semiflexible polymer enclosed in a square domain of side a is presented as an explicit example of the formulated theory and algorithm.
On virus growth and form
...
1
2
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 13 REFERENCES
Why charges go to the surface: A generalized Thomson problem
We study a variant of the generalized Thomson problem in which n particles are confined to a neutral sphere and interacting by a 1/rγ potential. It is found that for γ ≤ 1 the electrostatic repulsion…
Three-dimensional director-field predictions of viral DNA packing arrangements
In this work we develop a discrete director-field model for coarse-grained description of packing arrangements of DNA within bacteriophage virus heads. This computational lattice model allows us to…
Polyelectrolyte adsorption on charged particles in the Debye-Hückel approximation. A Monte Carlo approach
Monte Carlo simulations are used to study in the Debye-Huckel approximation the complexation between a polyelectrolyte and an oppositely charged spherical particle. Attention is focused on the effect…
Morphologies of semiflexible polyelectrolyte complexes
Complexation between a stiff charged cylinder and an oppositely charged semiflexible polymer is studied using linear Debye-Huckel theory (valid for large enough salt concentration or weakly charged…
Polyelectrolyte-colloid complexes: Polarizability and effective interaction
We theoretically study the polarizability and the interactions of neutral complexes consisting of a semiflexible polyelectrolyte adsorbed onto an oppositely charged spherical colloid. In the systems…
Statics and dynamics of strongly charged soft matter
Strange electrostatics in physics, chemistry, and biology
Stability of strong polyelectrolyte-macroion complexes
We investigate the thermodynamic stability of complexes formed by one semiflexible charged polymer wrapped around an oppositely charged sphere. Choosing parameters for DNA and histones, we determine…
Monte Carlo simulations of polyion-macroion complexes. 1. Equal absolute polyion and macroion charges
Intermolecular structures of complexes formed between a charged polymer and a spherical and oppositely charged macroion have been studied by employing the primitive model solved by Monte Carlo…
Monte Carlo Simulations of Polyion−Macroion Complexes. 2. Polyion Length and Charge Density Dependence†
The complexation between a polyion and an oppositely charged spherical macroion in the framework of the primitive model has been studied by the use of Monte Carlo simulations. The polyion length,…
...
1
2
...