TY - JOUR A1 - Abdolvahab, Rouhollah Haji A1 - Metzler, Ralf A1 - Ejtehadi, Mohammad Reza T1 - First passage time distribution of chaperone driven polymer translocation through a nanopore homopolymer and heteropolymer cases JF - The journal of chemical physics : bridges a gap between journals of physics and journals of chemistr N2 - Combining the advection-diffusion equation approach with Monte Carlo simulations we study chaperone driven polymer translocation of a stiff polymer through a nanopore. We demonstrate that the probability density function of first passage times across the pore depends solely on the Peclet number, a dimensionless parameter comparing drift strength and diffusivity. Moreover it is shown that the characteristic exponent in the power-law dependence of the translocation time on the chain length, a function of the chaperone-polymer binding energy, the chaperone concentration, and the chain length, is also effectively determined by the Peclet number. We investigate the effect of the chaperone size on the translocation process. In particular, for large chaperone size, the translocation progress and the mean waiting time as function of the reaction coordinate exhibit pronounced sawtooth-shapes. The effects of a heterogeneous polymer sequence on the translocation dynamics is studied in terms of the translocation velocity, the probability distribution for the translocation progress, and the monomer waiting times. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3669427 SN - 0021-9606 VL - 135 IS - 24 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Adamcik, Jozef A1 - Jeon, Jae-Hyung A1 - Karczewski, Konrad J. A1 - Metzler, Ralf A1 - Dietler, Giovanni T1 - Quantifying supercoiling-induced denaturation bubbles in DNA JF - Soft matter N2 - In both eukaryotic and prokaryotic DNA sequences of 30-100 base-pairs rich in AT base-pairs have been identified at which the double helix preferentially unwinds. Such DNA unwinding elements are commonly associated with origins for DNA replication and transcription, and with chromosomal matrix attachment regions. Here we present a quantitative study of local DNA unwinding based on extensive single DNA plasmid imaging. We demonstrate that long-lived single-stranded denaturation bubbles exist in negatively supercoiled DNA, at the expense of partial twist release. Remarkably, we observe a linear relation between the degree of supercoiling and the bubble size, in excellent agreement with statistical modelling. Furthermore, we obtain the full distribution of bubble sizes and the opening probabilities at varying salt and temperature conditions. The results presented herein underline the important role of denaturation bubbles in negatively supercoiled DNA for biological processes such as transcription and replication initiation in vivo. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c2sm26089a SN - 1744-683X VL - 8 IS - 33 SP - 8651 EP - 8658 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Akimoto, Takuma A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Ergodicity, rejuvenation, enhancement, and slow relaxation of diffusion in biased continuous-time random walks JF - Physical review : E, Statistical, nonlinear and soft matter physics N2 - Bias plays an important role in the enhancement of diffusion in periodic potentials. Using the continuous-time random walk in the presence of a bias, we report on an interesting phenomenon for the enhancement of diffusion by the start of the measurement in a random energy landscape. When the variance of the waiting time diverges, in contrast to the bias-free case, the dynamics with bias becomes superdiffusive. In the superdiffusive regime, we find a distinct initial ensemble dependence of the diffusivity. Moreover, the diffusivity can be increased by the aging time when the initial ensemble is not in equilibrium. We show that the time-averaged variance converges to the corresponding ensemble-averaged variance; i.e., ergodicity is preserved. However, trajectory-to-trajectory fluctuations of the time-averaged variance decay unexpectedly slowly. Our findings provide a rejuvenation phenomenon in the superdiffusive regime, that is, the diffusivity for a nonequilibrium initial ensemble gradually increases to that for an equilibrium ensemble when the start of the measurement is delayed. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.98.022105 SN - 2470-0045 SN - 2470-0053 VL - 98 IS - 2 PB - American Physical Society CY - College Park ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Awad, Emad A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Crossover dynamics from superdiffusion to subdiffusion BT - models and solutions JF - Fractional calculus and applied analysis : an international journal for theory and applications N2 - The Cattaneo or telegrapher's equation describes the crossover from initial ballistic to normal diffusion. Here we study and survey time-fractional generalisations of this equation that are shown to produce the crossover of the mean squared displacement from superdiffusion to subdiffusion. Conditional solutions are derived in terms of Fox H-functions and the dth-order moments as well as the diffusive flux of the different models are derived. Moreover, the concept of the distribution-like is proposed as an alternative to the probability density function. KW - Cattaneo equation KW - telegrapher's equation KW - crossover dynamics KW - fractional dynamic equations KW - anomalous diffusion KW - superdiffusion and KW - subdiffusion KW - Fox H-functions Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1515/fca-2020-0003 SN - 1311-0454 SN - 1314-2224 VL - 23 IS - 1 SP - 55 EP - 102 PB - De Gruyter CY - Berlin ; Boston ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Awad, Emad A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Closed-form multi-dimensional solutions and asymptotic behaviours for subdiffusive processes with crossovers: II. Accelerating case JF - Journal of physics : A, Mathematical and theoretical N2 - Anomalous diffusion with a power-law time dependence vertical bar R vertical bar(2)(t) similar or equal to t(alpha i) of the mean squared displacement occurs quite ubiquitously in numerous complex systems. Often, this anomalous diffusion is characterised by crossovers between regimes with different anomalous diffusion exponents alpha(i). Here we consider the case when such a crossover occurs from a first regime with alpha(1) to a second regime with alpha(2) such that alpha(2) > alpha(1), i.e., accelerating anomalous diffusion. A widely used framework to describe such crossovers in a one-dimensional setting is the bi-fractional diffusion equation of the so-called modified type, involving two time-fractional derivatives defined in the Riemann-Liouville sense. We here generalise this bi-fractional diffusion equation to higher dimensions and derive its multidimensional propagator (Green's function) for the general case when also a space fractional derivative is present, taking into consideration long-ranged jumps (Levy flights). We derive the asymptotic behaviours for this propagator in both the short- and long-time as well the short- and long-distance regimes. Finally, we also calculate the mean squared displacement, skewness and kurtosis in all dimensions, demonstrating that in the general case the non-Gaussian shape of the probability density function changes. KW - multidimensional fractional diffusion equation KW - continuous time random KW - walks KW - crossover anomalous diffusion dynamics KW - non-Gaussian probability KW - density Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8121/ac5a90 SN - 1751-8113 SN - 1751-8121 VL - 55 IS - 20 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aydiner, Ekrem A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Wealth distribution, Pareto law, and stretched exponential decay of money BT - Computer simulations analysis of agent-based models JF - Physica : europhysics journal ; A, Statistical mechanics and its applications N2 - We study by Monte Carlo simulations a kinetic exchange trading model for both fixed and distributed saving propensities of the agents and rationalize the person and wealth distributions. We show that the newly introduced wealth distribution – that may be more amenable in certain situations – features a different power-law exponent, particularly for distributed saving propensities of the agents. For open agent-based systems, we analyze the person and wealth distributions and find that the presence of trap agents alters their amplitude, leaving however the scaling exponents nearly unaffected. For an open system, we show that the total wealth – for different trap agent densities and saving propensities of the agents – decreases in time according to the classical Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts stretched exponential law. Interestingly, this decay does not depend on the trap agent density, but rather on saving propensities. The system relaxation for fixed and distributed saving schemes are found to be different. KW - Econophysics KW - Wealth and income distribution KW - Pareto law KW - Scaling exponents Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2017.08.017 SN - 0378-4371 SN - 1873-2119 VL - 490 SP - 278 EP - 288 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aydiner, Ekrem A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Money distribution in agent-based models with position-exchange dynamics BT - the Pareto paradigm revisited JF - The European physical journal : B, Condensed matter and complex systems N2 - Wealth and income distributions are known to feature country-specific Pareto exponents for their long power-law tails. To propose a rationale for this, we introduce an agent-based dynamic model and use Monte Carlo simulations to unveil the wealth distributions in closed and open economical systems. The standard money-exchange scenario is supplemented with the position-exchange agent dynamics that vitally affects the Pareto law. Specifically, in closed systems with position-exchange dynamics the power law changes to an exponential shape, while for open systems with traps the Pareto law remains valid. KW - Statistical and Nonlinear Physics Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2019-90674-0 SN - 1434-6028 SN - 1434-6036 VL - 92 IS - 5 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Barkai, Eli A1 - Garini, Yuval A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Strange Kinetics of single molecules in living cells JF - Physics today Y1 - 2012 SN - 0031-9228 VL - 65 IS - 8 SP - 29 EP - 35 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bauer, Maximilian A1 - Godec, Aljaz A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Diffusion of finite-size particles in two-dimensional channels with random wall configurations JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Diffusion of chemicals or tracer molecules through complex systems containing irregularly shaped channels is important in many applications. Most theoretical studies based on the famed Fick-Jacobs equation focus on the idealised case of infinitely small particles and reflecting boundaries. In this study we use numerical simulations to consider the transport of finite-size particles through asymmetrical two-dimensional channels. Additionally, we examine transient binding of the molecules to the channel walls by applying sticky boundary conditions. We consider an ensemble of particles diffusing in independent channels, which are characterised by common structural parameters. We compare our results for the long-time effective diffusion coefficient with a recent theoretical formula obtained by Dagdug and Pineda Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cp55160a SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 16 IS - 13 SP - 6118 EP - 6128 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bauer, Maximilian A1 - Godec, Aljaž A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Diffusion of finite-size particles in two-dimensional channels with random wall configurations JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies N2 - Diffusion of chemicals or tracer molecules through complex systems containing irregularly shaped channels is important in many applications. Most theoretical studies based on the famed Fick–Jacobs equation focus on the idealised case of infinitely small particles and reflecting boundaries. In this study we use numerical simulations to consider the transport of finite-size particles through asymmetrical two-dimensional channels. Additionally, we examine transient binding of the molecules to the channel walls by applying sticky boundary conditions. We consider an ensemble of particles diffusing in independent channels, which are characterised by common structural parameters. We compare our results for the long-time effective diffusion coefficient with a recent theoretical formula obtained by Dagdug and Pineda [J. Chem. Phys., 2012, 137, 024107]. KW - anomalous diffusion KW - fractional dynamics KW - transport KW - nonergodicity KW - coefficient Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CP55160A SN - 1463-9084 SN - 1463-9076 VL - 16 IS - 13 SP - 6118 EP - 6128 PB - RSC Publications CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bauer, Maximilian A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - In vivo facilitated diffusion model JF - PLoS one N2 - Under dilute in vitro conditions transcription factors rapidly locate their target sequence on DNA by using the facilitated diffusion mechanism. However, whether this strategy of alternating between three-dimensional bulk diffusion and one-dimensional sliding along the DNA contour is still beneficial in the crowded interior of cells is highly disputed. Here we use a simple model for the bacterial genome inside the cell and present a semi-analytical model for the in vivo target search of transcription factors within the facilitated diffusion framework. Without having to resort to extensive simulations we determine the mean search time of a lac repressor in a living E. coli cell by including parameters deduced from experimental measurements. The results agree very well with experimental findings, and thus the facilitated diffusion picture emerges as a quantitative approach to gene regulation in living bacteria cells. Furthermore we see that the search time is not very sensitive to the parameters characterizing the DNA configuration and that the cell seems to operate very close to optimal conditions for target localization. Local searches as implied by the colocalization mechanism are only found to mildly accelerate the mean search time within our model. Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053956 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 8 IS - 1 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bauer, Maximilian A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Generalized facilitated diffusion model for DNA-binding proteins with search and recognition states JF - Biophysical journal N2 - Transcription factors (TFs) such as the lac repressor find their target sequence on DNA at remarkably high rates. In the established Berg-von Hippel model for this search process, the TF alternates between three-dimensional diffusion in the bulk solution and one-dimensional sliding along the DNA chain. To overcome the so-called speed-stability paradox, in similar models the TF was considered as being present in two conformations (search state and recognition state) between which it switches stochastically. Combining both the facilitated diffusion model and alternating states, we obtain a generalized model. We explicitly treat bulk excursions for rodlike chains arranged in parallel and consider a simplified model for coiled DNA. Compared to previously considered facilitated diffusion models, corresponding to limiting cases of our generalized model, we surprisingly find a reduced target search rate. Moreover, at optimal conditions there is no longer an equipartition between the time spent by the protein on and off the DNA chain. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2012.04.008 SN - 0006-3495 VL - 102 IS - 10 SP - 2321 EP - 2330 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bauer, Maximilian A1 - Rasmussen, Emil S. A1 - Lomholt, Michael A. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Real sequence effects on the search dynamics of transcription factors on DNA JF - Scientific reports N2 - Recent experiments show that transcription factors (TFs) indeed use the facilitated diffusion mechanism to locate their target sequences on DNA in living bacteria cells: TFs alternate between sliding motion along DNA and relocation events through the cytoplasm. From simulations and theoretical analysis we study the TF-sliding motion for a large section of the DNA-sequence of a common E. coli strain, based on the two-state TF-model with a fast-sliding search state and a recognition state enabling target detection. For the probability to detect the target before dissociating from DNA the TF-search times self-consistently depend heavily on whether or not an auxiliary operator (an accessible sequence similar to the main operator) is present in the genome section. Importantly, within our model the extent to which the interconversion rates between search and recognition states depend on the underlying nucleotide sequence is varied. A moderate dependence maximises the capability to distinguish between the main operator and similar sequences. Moreover, these auxiliary operators serve as starting points for DNA looping with the main operator, yielding a spectrum of target detection times spanning several orders of magnitude. Auxiliary operators are shown to act as funnels facilitating target detection by TFs. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10072 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 5 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blavatska, Viktoria A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Conformational properties of complex polymers: rosette versus star-like structures JF - Journal of physics : A, Mathematical and theoretical N2 - Multiple loop formation in polymer macromolecules is an important feature of the chromatin organization and DNA compactification in the nuclei. We analyse the size and shape characteristics of complex polymer structures, containing in general f(1) loops (petals) and f(2) linear chains (branches). Within the frames of continuous model of Gaussian macromolecule, we apply the path integration method and obtain the estimates for gyration radius R-g and asphericity (A) over cap of typical conformation as functions of parameters f(1), f(2). In particular, our results qualitatively reveal the extent of anisotropy of star-like topologies as compared to the rosette structures of the same total molecular weight. KW - polymers KW - path integration KW - conformational properties Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8113/48/13/135001 SN - 1751-8113 SN - 1751-8121 VL - 48 IS - 13 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bodrova, Anna A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Quantifying non-ergodic dynamics of force-free granular gases JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Brownianmotion is ergodic in the Boltzmann–Khinchin sense that long time averages of physical observables such as the mean squared displacement provide the same information as the corresponding ensemble average, even at out-of-equilibrium conditions. This property is the fundamental prerequisite for single particle tracking and its analysis in simple liquids. We study analytically and by event-driven molecular dynamics simulations the dynamics of force-free cooling granular gases and reveal a violation of ergodicity in this Boltzmann– Khinchin sense as well as distinct ageing of the system. Such granular gases comprise materials such as dilute gases of stones, sand, various types of powders, or large molecules, and their mixtures are ubiquitous in Nature and technology, in particular in Space. We treat—depending on the physical-chemical properties of the inter-particle interaction upon their pair collisions—both a constant and a velocity-dependent (viscoelastic) restitution coefficient e. Moreover we compare the granular gas dynamics with an effective single particle stochastic model based on an underdamped Langevin equation with time dependent diffusivity. We find that both models share the same behaviour of the ensemble mean squared displacement (MSD) and the velocity correlations in the limit of weak dissipation. Qualitatively, the reported non-ergodic behaviour is generic for granular gases with any realistic dependence of e on the impact velocity of particles. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C5CP02824H SN - 1463-9084 IS - 17 SP - 21791 EP - 21798 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bodrova, Anna A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Quantifying non-ergodic dynamics of force-free granular gases JF - Physical chemistry, chemical physics : a journal of European Chemical Societies N2 - Brownian motion is ergodic in the Boltzmann-Khinchin sense that long time averages of physical observables such as the mean squared displacement provide the same information as the corresponding ensemble average, even at out-of-equilibrium conditions. This property is the fundamental prerequisite for single particle tracking and its analysis in simple liquids. We study analytically and by event-driven molecular dynamics simulations the dynamics of force-free cooling granular gases and reveal a violation of ergodicity in this Boltzmann-Khinchin sense as well as distinct ageing of the system. Such granular gases comprise materials such as dilute gases of stones, sand, various types of powders, or large molecules, and their mixtures are ubiquitous in Nature and technology, in particular in Space. We treat-depending on the physical-chemical properties of the inter-particle interaction upon their pair collisions-both a constant and a velocity-dependent (viscoelastic) restitution coefficient epsilon. Moreover we compare the granular gas dynamics with an effective single particle stochastic model based on an underdamped Langevin equation with time dependent diffusivity. We find that both models share the same behaviour of the ensemble mean squared displacement (MSD) and the velocity correlations in the limit of weak dissipation. Qualitatively, the reported non-ergodic behaviour is generic for granular gases with any realistic dependence of epsilon on the impact velocity of particles. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5cp02824h SN - 1463-9076 SN - 1463-9084 VL - 17 IS - 34 SP - 21791 EP - 21798 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bodrova, Anna S. A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Ultraslow scaled Brownian motion JF - New journal of physics : the open-access journal for physics N2 - We define and study in detail utraslow scaled Brownian motion (USBM) characterized by a time dependent diffusion coefficient of the form D(t) similar or equal to 1/t. For unconfined motion the mean squared displacement (MSD) of USBM exhibits an ultraslow, logarithmic growth as function of time, in contrast to the conventional scaled Brownian motion. In a harmonic potential the MSD of USBM does not saturate but asymptotically decays inverse-proportionally to time, reflecting the highly non-stationary character of the process. We show that the process is weakly non-ergodic in the sense that the time averaged MSD does not converge to the regular MSD even at long times, and for unconfined motion combines a linear lag time dependence with a logarithmic term. The weakly non-ergodic behaviour is quantified in terms of the ergodicity breaking parameter. The USBM process is also shown to be ageing: observables of the system depend on the time gap between initiation of the test particle and start of the measurement of its motion. Our analytical results are shown to agree excellently with extensive computer simulations. KW - anomalous diffusion KW - stochastic processes KW - ageing Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/17/6/063038 SN - 1367-2630 VL - 17 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bodrova, Anna S. A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Safdari, Hadiseh A1 - Sokolov, Igor M. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Underdamped scaled Brownian motion BT - (non-)existence of the overdamped limit in anomalous diffusion JF - Scientific reports N2 - It is quite generally assumed that the overdamped Langevin equation provides a quantitative description of the dynamics of a classical Brownian particle in the long time limit. We establish and investigate a paradigm anomalous diffusion process governed by an underdamped Langevin equation with an explicit time dependence of the system temperature and thus the diffusion and damping coefficients. We show that for this underdamped scaled Brownian motion (UDSBM) the overdamped limit fails to describe the long time behaviour of the system and may practically even not exist at all for a certain range of the parameter values. Thus persistent inertial effects play a non-negligible role even at significantly long times. From this study a general questions on the applicability of the overdamped limit to describe the long time motion of an anomalously diffusing particle arises, with profound consequences for the relevance of overdamped anomalous diffusion models. We elucidate our results in view of analytical and simulations results for the anomalous diffusion of particles in free cooling granular gases. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep30520 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bodrova, Anna S. A1 - Chechkin, Aleksei V. A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. A1 - Safdari, Hadiseh A1 - Sokolov, Igor M. A1 - Metzler, Ralf T1 - Underdamped scaled Brownian motion: (non-)existence of the overdamped limit in anomalous diffusion JF - Scientific reports N2 - It is quite generally assumed that the overdamped Langevin equation provides a quantitative description of the dynamics of a classical Brownian particle in the long time limit. We establish and investigate a paradigm anomalous diffusion process governed by an underdamped Langevin equation with an explicit time dependence of the system temperature and thus the diffusion and damping coefficients. We show that for this underdamped scaled Brownian motion (UDSBM) the overdamped limit fails to describe the long time behaviour of the system and may practically even not exist at all for a certain range of the parameter values. Thus persistent inertial effects play a non-negligible role even at significantly long times. From this study a general questions on the applicability of the overdamped limit to describe the long time motion of an anomalously diffusing particle arises, with profound consequences for the relevance of overdamped anomalous diffusion models. We elucidate our results in view of analytical and simulations results for the anomalous diffusion of particles in free cooling granular gases. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep30520 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 6 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Caetano, Daniel L. Z. A1 - Carvalho, Sidney Jurado de A1 - Metzler, Ralf A1 - Cherstvy, Andrey G. T1 - Critical adsorption of multiple polyelectrolytes onto a nanosphere BT - splitting the adsorption-desorption transition boundary JF - Interface : journal of the Royal Society N2 - Employing extensive Monte Carlo computer simulations, we investigate in detail the properties of multichain adsorption of charged flexible polyelectrolytes (PEs) onto oppositely charged spherical nanoparticles (SNPs). We quantify the conditions of critical adsorption-the phase-separation curve between the adsorbed and desorbed states of the PEs-as a function of the SNP surface-charge density and the concentration of added salt. We study the degree of fluctuations of the PE-SNP electrostatic binding energy, which we use to quantify the emergence of the phase subtransitions, including a series of partially adsorbed PE configurations. We demonstrate how the phase-separation adsorption-desorption boundary shifts and splits into multiple subtransitions at low-salt conditions, thereby generalizing and extending the results for critical adsorption of a single PE onto the SNP. The current findings are relevant for finite concentrations of PEs around the attracting SNP, such as the conditions for PE adsorption onto globular proteins carrying opposite electric charges. KW - nanoparticles KW - polyelectrolytes KW - electrostatics KW - critical adsorption KW - phase-transition boundary Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2020.0199 SN - 1742-5689 SN - 1742-5662 VL - 17 IS - 167 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER -