We present experimental results on statistics of polymer orientation angles relative to the shear plane and tumbling times in shear flow with thermal noise. The strong deviation of the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the orientation angles from Gaussian PDFs was observed in good accord with theory. A universal exponential PDF tail for the tumbling times and its predicted scaling with Wi (that is, the dimensionless shear rate normalized by the polymer relaxation time) are also tested experimentally against numerics. The scaling relations of PDF widths for both angles as a function of Wi are verified and compared with numerics.

• Received 9 March 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.038304