The winding of a relaxed elastic line on a cylinder
Gerald S. Manning · Quarterly of Applied Mathematics · 1987
We analyze several cases of the boundary-value problem that determines the path of a relaxed elastic line on a cylinder. A short line with oblique initial tangent deviates from the corresponding helix toward the direction of the axis of the cylinder. A line initially directed along the base circle continues to wind circumferentially if the ratio of its length to the radius of the cylinder does not exceed the critical value π / 2 3 / 2 \pi /{2^{3/2}} ; longer lines deviate from the circle. Infinitely long elastic lines wind in proportion to the logarithm of their arc lengths, as distinct from the direct proportion of a helix. Possible implications for biological structures are discussed.