Title: Rigidity-induced scale invariance in polymer ejection from capsid,
Abstract: While the dynamics of a fully flexible polymer ejecting a capsid through a
nanopore has been extensively studied, the ejection dynamics of semiflexible
polymers has not been properly characterized. Here we report results from
simulations of ejection dynamics of semiflexible polymers ejecting from
spherical capsids. Ejections start from strongly confined polymer conformations
of constant initial monomer density. We find that, unlike for fully flexible
polymers, for semiflexible polymers the force measured at the pore does not
show a direct relation to the instantaneous ejection velocity. The cumulative
waiting time $t(s)$, that is, the time at which a monomer $s$ exits the capsid
the last time, shows a clear change when increasing the polymer rigidity
$\kappa$. Major part of an ejecting polymer is driven out of the capsid by
internal pressure. At the final stage the polymer escapes the capsid by
diffusion. For the driven part there is a cross-over from essentially
exponential growth of $t$ with $s$ of the fully flexible polymers to a
scale-invariant form. In addition, a clear dependence of $t$ on $N_0$ was
found. These findings combined give the dependence $t(s) \propto N_0^{0.55}
s^{1.33}$ for the strongly rigid polymers. This cross-over in dynamics where
$\kappa$ acts as a control parameter is reminiscent of a phase transition. This
analogy is further enhanced by our finding a perfect data collapse of $t$ for
polymers of different $N_0$ and any constant $\kappa$.