Critical evaluation of the computational methods used in the forced polymer translocation

Abstract

In forced polymer translocation, the average translocation time, $τ$, scales with respect to pore force, $f$, and polymer length, $N$, as $τ\sim f^{-1} N^β$. We demonstrate that an artifact in Metropolis Monte Carlo method resulting in breakage of the force scaling with large $f$ may be responsible for some of the controversies between different computationally obtained results and also between computational and experimental results. Using Langevin dynamics simulations we show that the scaling exponent $β\le 1 + ν$ is not universal, but depends on $f$. Moreover, we show that forced translocation can be described by a relatively simple force balance argument and $β$ to arise solely from the initial polymer configuration.