Origin of symmetry energy in finite nuclei and density dependence of nuclear matter symmetry energy from measured alpha-decay energies

Based on the Skyrme energy density functional, the spatial distribution of the symmetry energy of a finite nucleus is derived in order to examine whether the symmetry energy of a finite nucleus originates from its interior or from its surface. It is found that the surface part of a heavy nucleus contributes dominantly to its symmetry energy compared to its inner part. The symmetry energy coefficient $a_{\text{sym}}({A})$ is then directly extracted and the ratio of the surface symmetry coefficient to the volume symmetry coefficient $\kappa$ is estimated. Meanwhile, with the help of experimental alpha decay energies, a macroscopic method is developed to determine the symmetry energy coefficient of heavy nuclei. The resultant $a_{\text{sym}}({A})$ is used to analyze the density dependence of the symmetry energy coefficient of nuclear matter around the saturation density, and furthermore, the neutron skin thickness of $^{208}\text{Pb}$ is deduced which is consistent with the pygmy dipole resonance analysis. In addition, it is shown that the ratio $\kappa$ obtained from the macroscopic method is in agreement with that from the Skyrme energy density functional. Thus the two completely different approaches may validate each other to achieve more compelling results.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Alpha-decay half-lives and Q_alpha values of superheavy nuclei

The alpha-decay half-lives of recently synthesized superheavy nuclei (SHN) are investigated based on a unified fission model (UFM) where a new method to calculate the assault frequency of alpha-emission is used. The excellent agreement with the experimental data indicates the UFM is a useful tool to investigate these alpha-decays. It is found that the half-lives become more and more insensitive to the Q_alpha values as the atomic number increases on the whole, which is favorable for us to predict the half-lives of SHN. In addition, a formula is suggested to compute the Q_alpha values for the nuclei with Z > 92 and N > 140 with a good accuracy, according to which the long-lived SHN should be neutron rich. With Q_alpha values from this formula as inputs, we predict the half-lives of isotopes of Z = 117, which may be useful for experimental identication in the future.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

Density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy constrained by mean-field calculations

We establish a correlation for the symmetry energy at saturation density $S_{0}$, slope parameter $L$ and curvature parameter $K_{\text{sym}}$ based on widely different mean field interactions. With the help of this correlation and available empirical and theoretical information, the density dependent behavior around the saturation density is determined. We compare the results obtained with the present approach with those by other analyses. With this obtained density dependent behavior of the symmetry energy, the neutron skin thickness of $^{208}$Pb and some properties of neutron stars are investigated. In addition, it is found that the expression $S(\rho)=S_{0}(\rho /\rho_{0})^{\gamma}$ or $S(\rho)=12.5(\rho /\rho_{0}) ^{2/3}+C_{p}(\rho /\rho_{0}) ^{\gamma}$ does not reproduce the density dependence of the symmetry energy as predicted by the mean-field approach around nuclear saturation density.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Identification of Epstein-Barr virus replication proteins in Burkitt’s lymphoma cells

The working model to describe the mechanisms used to replicate the cancer-associated virus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is partly derived from comparisons with other members of the Herpes virus family. Many genes within the EBV genome are homologous across the herpes virus family. Published transcriptome data for the EBV genome during its lytic replication cycle show extensive transcription, but the identification of the proteins is limited. We have taken a global proteomics approach to identify viral proteins that are expressed during the EBV lytic replication cycle. We combined an enrichment method to isolate cells undergoing EBV lytic replication with SILAC-labeling coupled to mass-spectrometry and identified viral and host proteins expressed during the OPEN ACCESS Pathogens 2015, 4 740 EBV lytic replication cycle. Amongst the most frequently identified viral proteins are two components of the DNA replication machinery, the single strand DNA binding protein BALF2, DNA polymerase accessory protein BMRF1 and both subunits of the viral ribonucleoside-diphosphate reductase enzyme (BORF2 and BaRF1). An additional 42 EBV lytic cycle proteins were also detected. This provides proteomic identification for many EBV lytic replication cycle proteins and also identifies post-translational modifications