ABSTRACT
The helical symmetry operation can be used as a special periodic boundary condition for one-dimensional infinite long polymer chain. Several helical polymers are of central importance to biological systems. The famous double helix of the DNA stores our genetic code; the alpha-helix is one of the most common secondary structures in proteins, while some biologically relevant polysaccharides can also take different helical shapes. The functionality of various hierarchically structured materials, like solids, biomolecules or supramolecular assemblies is assured by the particular geometry arrangement of their building blocks. The biochemical process through a protein structure attains its functional shape or conformation is called protein folding. First principle investigations using the special periodic boundary condition of the helical symmetry has a great deal of applications in fields of condensed matter physics, polymer science or theoretical biophysics.
