82 research outputs found
Density waves theory of the capsid structure of small icosahedral viruses
We apply Landau theory of crystallization to explain and to classify the
capsid structures of small viruses with spherical topology and icosahedral
symmetry. We develop an explicit method which predicts the positions of centers
of mass for the proteins constituting viral capsid shell. Corresponding density
distribution function which generates the positions has universal form without
any fitting parameter. The theory describes in a uniform way both the
structures satisfying the well-known Caspar and Klug geometrical model for
capsid construction and those violating it. The quasiequivalence of protein
environments in viral capsid and peculiarities of the assembly thermodynamics
are also discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figur
Discontinuous Change in the Smectic Layer Thickness in Ferrielectric Liquid Crystals
The temperature dependence of the thickness of thick free-standing films is studied using a high-resolution film thickness measurement technique. A small discontinuity in the temperature dependence of the smectic layer thickness at every phase transition between ferro-, ferri-, and antiferroelectric phases is observed. We show that the major contribution to it arises from a change in the smectic tilt angle
Tate blueshift and vanishing for Real oriented cohomology
Ando, Morava, and Sadofsky showed that the Tate construction for a trivial
-action decreases the chromatic height of Johnson-Wilson theory,
and Greenlees and Sadofsky proved that the Tate construction for a trivial
finite group action vanishes on Morava K-theory. We prove -equivariant
enrichments of these results using the parametrized Tate construction. The
-fixed points of our results produce new blueshift and vanishing results
for Real Johnson-Wilson theories and Real Morava -theories ,
respectively, for all . In particular, our blueshift results generalize
Greenlees and May's Tate splitting of to all chromatic heights.Comment: 38 pages. Revised exposition and expanded some proofs. Comments
welcome
Chiral Quasicrystalline Order and Dodecahedral Geometry in Exceptional Families of Viruses
On the example of exceptional families of viruses we i) show the existence of
a completely new type of matter organization in nanoparticles, in which the
regions with a chiral pentagonal quasicrystalline order of protein positions
are arranged in a structure commensurate with the spherical topology and
dodecahedral geometry, ii) generalize the classical theory of quasicrystals
(QCs) to explain this organization, and iii) establish the relation between
local chiral QC order and nonzero curvature of the dodecahedral capsid faces.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Positional, Reorientational and Bond Orientational Order in DNA Mesophases
We investigate the orientational order of transverse polarization vectors of
long, stiff polymer molecules and their coupling to bond orientational and
positional order in high density mesophases. Homogeneous ordering of transverse
polarization vector promotes distortions in the hexatic phase, whereas
inhomogeneous ordering precipitates crystalization of the 2D sections with
different orientations of the transverse polarization vector on each molecule
in the unit cell. We propose possible scenarios for going from the hexatic
phase, through the distorted hexatic phase to the crystalline phase with an
orthorhombic unit cell observed experimentally for the case of DNA.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Statistical mechanics of columnar DNA assemblies
Many physical systems can be mapped onto solved or "solvable" models of
magnetism. In this work, we have mapped the statistical mechanics of columnar
phases of ideally helical rigid DNA -- subject to the earlier found unusual,
frustrated pair potential [A. A. Kornyshev and S. Leikin, J. Chem. Phys. 107,
3656 (1997)] -- onto an exotic, unknown variant of the XY model on a fixed or
restructurable lattice. Here the role of the 'spin' is played by the azimuthal
orientation of the molecules. We have solved this model using a Hartree-Fock
approximation, ground state calculations, and finite temperature Monte Carlo
simulations. We have found peculiar spin order transitions, which may also be
accompanied by positional restructuring, from hexagonal to rhombohedric
lattices. Some of these have been experimentally observed in dense columnar
aggregates. Note that DNA columnar phases are of great interest in biophysical
research, not only because they are a useful in vitro tool for the study of DNA
condensation, but also since these structures have been detected in living
matter. Within the approximations made, our study provides insight into the
statistical mechanics of these systems.Comment: 19 pages, 18 figure
Flexoelectricity and piezoelectricity - reason for rich variety of phases in antiferroelectric liquid crystals
The free energy of antiferroelectric liquid crystal which takes into account
polar order explicitly is presented. Steric, van der Waals, piezoelectric and
flexoelectric interactions to the nearest layers and dipolar electrostatic
interactions to the nearest and to the next nearest layers induce indirect tilt
interactions with chiral and achiral properties, which extend to the third and
to the fourth nearest layers. Chiral indirect interactions between tilts can be
large and induce helicoidal modulations even in systems with negligible chiral
van der Waals interactions. If indirect chiral interactions compete with chiral
van der Waals interactions, the helix unwinding is possible. Although strength
of microscopic interactions change monotonically with decreasing temperature,
effective interlayer interactions change nonmonotonically and give rise to
nonmonotouous change of modulation period through various phases. Increased
enatiomeric excess i.e. increased chirality changes the phase sequence.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
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Digitral Down Conversion Technology for Tevatron Beam Line Tuner at FNAL
Fermilab is presently in Run II collider operations and is developing instrumentation to improve luminosity. Improving the orbit matching between accelerator components using a Beam Line Tuner (BLT) can improve the luminosity. Digital Down Conversion (DDC) has been proposed as a method for making more accurate beam position measurements. Fermilab has implemented a BLT system using a DDC technique to measure orbit oscillations during injections from the Main Injector to the Tevatron. The output of a fast ADC is downconverted and filtered in software. The system measures the x and y positions, the intensity, and the time of arrival for each proton or antiproton bunch, on a turn-by-turn basis, during the first 1024 turns immediately following injection. We present results showing position, intensity, and time of arrival for both injected and coasting beam. Initial results indicate a position resolution of {approx}20 to 40 microns and a phase resolution of {approx}25 ps
Phase Behavior of Columnar DNA Assemblies
The pair interaction between two stiff parallel linear DNA molecules depends
not only on the distance between their axes but on their azimuthal orientation.
The positional and orientational order in columnar B-DNA assemblies in solution
is investigated, based on the DNA-DNA electrostatic pair potential that takes
into account DNA helical symmetry and the amount and distribution of adsorbed
counterions. A phase diagram obtained by lattice sum calculations predicts a
variety of positionally and azimuthally ordered phases and bundling transitions
strongly depending on the counterion adsorption patterns.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR
Phase Behavior of Bent-Core Molecules
Recently, a new class of smectic liquid crystal phases (SmCP phases)
characterized by the spontaneous formation of macroscopic chiral domains from
achiral bent-core molecules has been discovered. We have carried out Monte
Carlo simulations of a minimal hard spherocylinder dimer model to investigate
the role of excluded volume interations in determining the phase behavior of
bent-core materials and to probe the molecular origins of polar and chiral
symmetry breaking. We present the phase diagram as a function of pressure or
density and dimer opening angle . With decreasing , a transition
from a nonpolar to a polar smectic phase is observed near ,
and the nematic phase becomes thermodynamically unstable for . No chiral smectic or biaxial nematic phases were found.Comment: 4 pages Revtex, 3 eps figures (included
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