Free energy reconstruction from nonequilibrium single-molecule pulling experiments
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Laser tweezers and atomic force microscopes are increasingly used to probe the interactions and mechanical properties of individual molecules. Unfortunately, using such time-dependent perturbations to force rare molecular events also drives the system away from equilibrium. Nevertheless, we show how equilibrium free energy profiles can be extracted rigorously from repeated nonequilibrium force measurements on the basis of an extension of Jarzynski's remarkable identity between free energies and the irreversible work.
Authors: Gerhard Hummer, Attila Szabo
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2102375526