Damping of DNA vibration modes by viscous solvents

The problem of viscous damping of vibrating DNA polymer in aqueous solution is solved in the low-amplitude limit for all acoustic branches of the spectrum. The acoustic spectrum covers the microwave region of frequencies. The viscious damping is found to be a strong function of frequency, singular both at very low and very high frequencies. All acoustic modes are overdamped, implying that the observation of well-defined resonances in DNA requires highly structured water or very dry material.