Approximate minimal transformation for a simple conformation pair, and the degree to which link length changes.

<p>(a) Several intermediate conformations for a transformation (A–G proceeding along the color sequence red, green, yellow, cyan, magenta, gray, and blue) are shown. The step-size delta is shown. Note the step in which the first bead of the chain () is “snapped” into the final conformation because its distance to the destination is less than (going from D to E). In the intermediate conformation F (Gray), beads 0 to 3 have reached their final locations and no longer move. Note also the link length violation of link 4 in conformation F, due to the approximation that ignores end point rotations, for this intermediate figure. A milder violation is observed when going from D (cyan) to E (magenta), since bead 1 through all assume a step size of while bead 0 moved a step size . (b) Panel b shows a surface plot showing link length as a function of link number and step number during transformation. For the whole process, mean link length is 0.98 units and standard deviation is 0.063.