Twist and writhe dynamics of stiff filaments

This letter considers the dynamics of a stiff filament, in particular the coupling of twist and bend via writhe. The time dependence of the writhe of a filament is $W_r^2\sim L t^{1/4}$ for a linear filament and $W_r^2\sim t^{1/2} / L $ for a curved filament. Simulations are used to study the relative importance of crankshaft motion and tube like motion in twist dynamics. Fuller's theorem, and its relation with the Berry phase, is reconsidered for open filaments