Equilibrium unzipping at finite temperature

We study thermally activated unzipping, which is modeled as a debonding process. The system is modeled as a parallel bundle of elastically interacting breakable units loaded through a series spring. Using equilibrium statistical mechanics, we compute the reversible response of this mechanical system under quasi-static driving. Depending on the stiffness of the series spring, the system exhibits either ductile behavior, characterized by noncooperative debonding, or brittle behavior, with a highly correlated detachment of the whole bundle. We show that the ductile to brittle transition is of the second order and that it can also be controlled by temperature.