  The flow behavior of a semiflexible polymer in microchannels is studied using
Multiparticle Collision Dynamics (MPC), a particle-based hydrodynamic
simulation technique. Conformations, distributions, and radial cross-streamline
migration are investigated for various bending rigidities, with persistence
lengths Lp in the range 0.5 < Lp/Lr < 30. The flow behavior is governed by the
competition between a hydrodynamic lift force and steric wall-repulsion, which
lead to migration away from the wall, and a locally varying flow-induced
orientation, which drives polymer away from the channel center and towards the
wall. The different dependencies of these effects on the polymer bending
rigidity and the flow velocity results in a complex dynamical behavior.
However, a generic effect is the appearance of a maximum in the monomer and the
center-of-mass distributions, which occurs in the channel center for small flow
velocities, but moves off-center at higher velocities.
