Time- and ensemble-average statistical mechanics of the Gaussian network model

Abstract

Abstract We present analytical results for a set of time- and ensemble-averaged physical observables in the non-Hookean Gaussian network model (GNM)—a generalization of the Rouse model to elastic networks with links that display a certain degree of extensional and rotational stiffness. We focus on a set of coarse-grained observables that may be of interest in the analysis of GNM in the context of internal motions in proteins and mechanical frames in contact with a heat bath. A C++ computer code is made available that implements all analytical results.