Role of Disorder on the Dynamics of a Nonlinear Model for DNA Thermal Denaturation

The dynamics of thermal denaturation of DNA is a good example in which nonlinearity coexits with disorder. The amplitude of the motions is so high that bonds break and the base sequence is inhomogeneous since it contains the genetic code. Using a simple nonlinear model, we study the role of local inhomogeneities or of extended disorder on the dynamics of the localized excitations and on the denaturation rate by numerical simulations at constrained temperature. Approximate analytical results are obtained for the trapping of the breatherlike excitations by isolated defects and the statistical mechanics of the disordered molecule.