On the theory of the condensed states of heteropolymers

Abstract

The collapse (globulization) of an ideal heteropolymer chain under the action of an external attractive field is considered. The problem of the collapse of different types of primary structures, including mobile, periodic, large-block, and statistical structures, is formulated. It is shown that for a random heteropolymer, the mathematical image of the globular state is the chain-length independence of the probability distribution of a random thermal distribution function of the end monomer coordinates. The free energy per monomer of a chain in a globular state and local densities of monomers of all types are shown to be a self-averaging quantities. An exactly solvable model is proposed for a globule formed by a statistical heteropolymer chain. In this model, different types of monomers are attracted to different centers by linear elastic forces with identical elastic constants. The modulus of elasticity is obtained for a heteropolymer globule with respect to the attraction of different types of monomers in different directions. It is shown that this modulus is higher for a short-periodic polymer than for a statistical one.