Semiflexible polymers in shear flow

The dynamics of semiflexible polymers under the influence of shear flow is studied analytically. Power laws are derived for various conformational and dynamical quantities which are in agreement with experimental findings. In particular, the tumbling motion is analyzed and expressions are provided for the probability distributions of the orientation angles and the tumbling time. The calculations explain the similarities in the behavior of flexible and semiflexible polymers as well as free-draining and nondraining systems.