84,536 research outputs found
Radial distribution of RNA genome packaged inside spherical viruses
The problem of RNA genomes packaged inside spherical viruses is studied. The
viral capsid is modeled as a hollowed sphere. The attraction between RNA
molecules and the inner viral capsid is assumed to be non-specific and occurs
at the inner capsid surface only. For small capsid attraction, it is found that
monomer concentration of RNA molecules is maximum at the center of the capsid
to maximize their configurational entropy. For stronger capsid attraction, RNA
concentration peaks at some distance near the capsid. In the latter case, the
competition between the branching of RNA secondary struture and its adsorption
to the inner capsid results in the formation of a dense layer of RNA near
capsid surface. The layer thickness is a slowly varying (logarithmic) function
of the capsid inner radius. Consequently, for immediate strength of RNA-capsid
interaction, the amount of RNA packaged inside a virus is proportional to the
capsid {\em area} (or the number of proteins) instead of its volume. The
numerical profiles describe reasonably well the experimentally observed RNA
nucleotide concentration profiles of various viruses.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Abstract, introduction rewritten. Comparison to
actual virus profiles added. Submitted to PR
F-wave versus P-wave Superconductivity in Organic Conductors
Current experimental results suggest that some organic quasi-one-dimensional
superconductors exhibit triplet pairing symmetry. Thus, we discuss several
potential triplet order parameters for the superconducting state of these
systems within the functional integral formulation. We compare weak spin-orbit
coupling , , and symmetries via several thermodynamic
quantities. For each symmetry, we analyse the temperature dependences of the
order parameter, condensation energy, specific heat, and superfluid density
tensor.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Exact Partition Function Zeros of a Polymer on a Simple-Cubic Lattice
We study conformational transitions of a polymer on a simple-cubic lattice by
calculating the zeros of the exact partition function, up to chain length 24.
In the complex temperature plane, two loci of the partition function zeros are
found for longer chains, suggesting the existence of both the coil-globule
collapse transition and the melting-freezing transition. The locus
corresponding to coil-globule transition clearly approaches the real axis as
the chain length increases, and the transition temperature could be estimated
by finite-size scaling. The form of the logarithmic correction to the scaling
of the partition function zeros could also be obtained. The other locus does
not show clear scaling behavior, but a supplementary analysis of the specific
heat reveals a first-order-like pseudo-transition.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
Study of the Fully Frustrated Clock Model using the Wang-Landau Algorithm
Monte Carlo simulations using the newly proposed Wang-Landau algorithm
together with the broad histogram relation are performed to study the
antiferromagnetic six-state clock model on the triangular lattice, which is
fully frustrated. We confirm the existence of the magnetic ordering belonging
to the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) type phase transition followed by the chiral
ordering which occurs at slightly higher temperature. We also observe the lower
temperature phase transition of KT type due to the discrete symmetry of the
clock model. By using finite-size scaling analysis, the higher KT temperature
and the chiral critical temperature are respectively estimated as
and . The results are in favor of the double
transition scenario. The lower KT temperature is estimated as .
Two decay exponents of KT transitions corresponding to higher and lower
temperatures are respectively estimated as and
, which suggests that the exponents associated with the KT
transitions are universal even for the frustrated model.Comment: 7 pages including 9 eps figures, RevTeX, to appear in J. Phys.
More on Membranes in Matrix Theory
We study noncompact and static membrane solutions in Matrix theory. Demanding
axial symmetry on a membrane embedded in three spatial dimensions, we obtain a
wormhole solution whose shape is the same with the catenoidal solution of
Born-Infeld theory. We also discuss another interesting class of solutions,
membranes embedded holomorphically in four spatial dimensions, which are 1/4
BPS.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX; expanded to treat matrix membrane solutions with
electric flux, equivalently fundamental strings; to appear in Phys. Rev.
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