Nucleation of twisted and tubular states in chiral ribbons.

Abstract

Bilayers of chiral molecules can self-assemble into twisted and tubular structures, as was recently shown with chiral molecular constituents such as ssDNA-amphiphiles. I show that the dynamics of the transition between these topologies is driven by a nucleation mechanism that bears a striking formal similarity to that encountered in first-order wetting and dewetting transitions. Exploiting this analogy enables the critical nuclei of the transition to be calculated.