The deformation field in semiflexible networks

Gels composed of semiflexible polymers have remarkably complex deformational properties. Due to the introduction of a new mesoscopic length scale, the persistence length, the deformation field of these materials can depart from the predictions of continuum elastic theories over mesoscopic lengths. In this paper, we review a recently proposed phase diagram for such semiflexible gels and discuss the implications of this research for modelling the cytoskeleton.