Nano tug-of-war (Master Lab)

Goal:

The elastic response of nano-biopolymers, such as DNA and proteins, to flow and forces are of key importance to biological function and bio-inspired material design. In this computer lab, the students will learn about the physical origins of nano-elasticity, which are qualitatively different from its macroscopic counterpart. The students will learn to perform Steered Molecular Dynamics simulations of coarse-grained polymer models with the LAMMPS simulation package, which they test against analytical results from polymer physics and interpret in the context of modern, high-resoution single-molecule experiments. All codes required to generate the data will be provided, however, writing small codes for simple analyses of the data are highly desirable and encouraged.

Responsible / contact persons

Prof. Dr. Joachim Dzubiella
Dr. Upayan Baul (Email)
Sebastian Milster

Other available courses at the Master Laboratory Applied Physics curriculum 

Demonstration

Here you can download a short presentation in the form of a video highlighting some experimental relevance, fun cartoons, and a typical schematic of Steered Molecular Dynamics simulations that students get to perform.

Suggested group size : 2 students
Lab duration : 2 (+1) days
Lab mode : online