Flexible polymers and thin rods far from equilibrium: Buckling dynamics

We investigate the dynamics of the classical Euler buckling instability of compressed objects such as flexible molecular chains and thin rods moving i n a viscous medium. We find that flexible chains undergo a coarsening proce ss self-similar in time. They develop a wavelike pattern whose amplitude an d wavelength grow in time. We relate the buckling dynamics to phase orderin g phenomena. The role of the order parameter here is played by the chain sl ope with respect to the straight initial chain configuration.