Fig. 2.

Effective energy landscape $\tilde{E}$(ℓ) (Left, in k_BT units, from Eq. 6) and the corresponding coat size distribution n(ℓ) (Right, in n₁^cmc units, from Eqs. 5–10), for different values of the free monomer density n₁. n₁/n₁^cmc = 0.986 (state a - Top green curve), 1.039 (state b - Top red), 1.054 (state c - Middle) and 1.160 (state d - Bottom). The variation of $\tilde{E}$(ℓ) and n(ℓ) upon a slight increase of n₁ above the given value are shown in blue dashed lines. Other parameters are γ = 5 k_BT, σ = 0, k_v = 0.13s⁻¹, k_off = 0.12s⁻¹, and ℓ_v = 500. With those values, n₁^cmc = 0.009.