121 research outputs found
Phase Transitions in a Symmetry-Conserving Framework
Phase transitions are often associated with the breaking of a symmetry in the low-temperature phase described by non-vanishing values of certain order parameters. However, in finite-size systems the correlated equilibrium configuration preserves the symmetries of the underlying Hamiltonian. We discuss a method to calculate the statistical distribution of the order parameters without breaking the corresponding symmetries. The maxima of these statistical distributions mimic the phase transitions that are found in a mean-field approximation. We demonstrate the method for the case of shape transitions in atomic nuclei
Mapping the Two-Component Atomic Fermi Gas to the Nuclear Shell-Model
The physics of a two-component cold fermi gas is now frequently addressed in
laboratories. Usually this is done for large samples of tens to hundreds of
thousands of particles. However, it is now possible to produce few-body systems
(1-100 particles) in very tight traps where the shell structure of the external
potential becomes important. A system of two-species fermionic cold atoms with
an attractive zero-range interaction is analogous to a simple model of nucleus
in which neutrons and protons interact only through a residual pairing
interaction. In this article, we discuss how the problem of a two-component
atomic fermi gas in a tight external trap can be mapped to the nuclear shell
model so that readily available many-body techniques in nuclear physics, such
as the Shell Model Monte Carlo (SMMC) method, can be directly applied to the
study of these systems. We demonstrate an application of the SMMC method by
estimating the pairing correlations in a small two-component Fermi system with
moderate-to-strong short-range two-body interactions in a three-dimensional
harmonic external trapping potential.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Final versio
Organometallic palladium reagents for cysteine bioconjugation
Reactions based on transition metals have found wide use in organic synthesis, in particular for the functionalization of small molecules. However, there are very few reports of using transition-metal-based reactions to modify complex biomolecules, which is due to the need for stringent reaction conditions (for example, aqueous media, low temperature and mild pH) and the existence of multiple reactive functional groups found in biomolecules. Here we report that palladium(II) complexes can be used for efficient and highly selective cysteine conjugation (bioconjugation) reactions that are rapid and robust under a range of bio-compatible reaction conditions. The straightforward synthesis of the palladium reagents from diverse and easily accessible aryl halide and trifluoromethanesulfonate precursors makes the method highly practical, providing access to a large structural space for protein modification. The resulting aryl bioconjugates are stable towards acids, bases, oxidants and external thiol nucleophiles. The broad utility of the bioconjugation platform was further corroborated by the synthesis of new classes of stapled peptides and antibody–drug conjugates. These palladium complexes show potential as benchtop reagents for diverse bioconjugation applications.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM-58160)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM-101762)MIT Faculty Start-up FundDamon Runyon Cancer Research FoundationSontag Foundation (Distinguished Scientist Award)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Chemistry (George Buchi Research Fellowship)David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT (Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research
Phenomenology and physical origin of shear-localization and shear-banding in complex fluids
We review and compare the phenomenological aspects and physical origin of
shear-localization and shear-banding in various material types, namely
emulsions, suspensions, colloids, granular materials and micellar systems. It
appears that shear-banding, which must be distinguished from the simple effect
of coexisting static-flowing regions in yield stress fluids, occurs in the form
of a progressive evolution of the local viscosity towards two significantly
different values in two adjoining regions of the fluids in which the stress
takes slightly different values. This suggests that from a global point of view
shear-banding in these systems has a common physical origin: two physical
phenomena (for example, in colloids, destructuration due to flow and
restructuration due to aging) are in competition and, depending on the flow
conditions, one of them becomes dominant and makes the system evolve in a
specific direction.Comment: The original publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co
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