Figure 6.

Numerical solution (solid line) of (4.14) for the parameter values R₀ = 50 μm, $L_0=2R_0$, ℘ = 10, m = 1/2, λ = 10 s⁻¹. The dashed line (purple) is the upper bound $L_0\exp (\frac{\lambda }{\hspace{0.17em}}t/2)$. The horizontal dashed line is at $L_1=L_{\max }$, when the skein is fully unravelled. (Online version in colour.)