2,297 research outputs found
Nilsson-SU3 selfconsistency in heavy N=Z nuclei
It is argued that there exist natural shell model spaces optimally adapted to
the operation of two variants of Elliott' SU3 symmetry that provide accurate
predictions of quadrupole moments of deformed states. A selfconsistent
Nilsson-like calculation describes the competition between the realistic
quadrupole force and the central field, indicating a {\em remarkable stability
of the quadruplole moments}---which remain close to their quasi and pseudo SU3
values---as the single particle splittings increase. A detailed study of the
even nuclei from Ni to Cd reveals that the region of
prolate deformation is bounded by a pair of transitional nuclei Kr and
Mo in which prolate ground state bands are predicted to dominate, though
coexisting with oblate ones,Comment: Replacement I) Title simplified. II) Major revision: structure of
paper kept but two thirds totally rewritten (same number of pages); 20
references adde
Size, shape, and flexibility of RNA structures
Determination of sizes and flexibilities of RNA molecules is important in
understanding the nature of packing in folded structures and in elucidating
interactions between RNA and DNA or proteins. Using the coordinates of the
structures of RNA in the Protein Data Bank we find that the size of the folded
RNA structures, measured using the radius of gyration, , follows the Flory
scaling law, namely, \AA where N is the number of
nucleotides. The shape of RNA molecules is characterized by the asphericity
and the shape parameters that are computed using the eigenvalues
of the moment of inertia tensor. From the distribution of , we find
that a large fraction of folded RNA structures are aspherical and the
distribution of values shows that RNA molecules are prolate (). The
flexibility of folded structures is characterized by the persistence length
. By fitting the distance distribution function to the worm-like
chain model we extracted the persistence length . We find that \AA. The dependence of on implies the average length of
helices should increases as the size of RNA grows. We also analyze packing in
the structures of ribosomes (30S, 50S, and 70S) in terms of , ,
, and . The 70S and the 50S subunits are more spherical compared to
most RNA molecules. The globularity in 50S is due to the presence of an
unusually large number (compared to 30S subunit) of small helices that are
stitched together by bulges and loops. Comparison of the shapes of the intact
70S ribosome and the constituent particles suggests that folding of the
individual molecules might occur prior to assembly.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, J. Chem. Phys. in pres
What can be learned from binding energy differences about nuclear structure: the example of delta V_{pn}
We perform an analysis of a binding energy difference called delta
V_{pn}(N,Z) =- 1/4(E(Z,N)-E(Z,N-2)-E(Z-2,N)+ E(Z-2,N-2) in the framework of a
realistic nuclear model. Using the angular-momentum and particle-number
projected generator coordinate method and the Skyrme interaction SLy4, we
analyze the contribution brought to delta V_{pn} by static deformation and
dynamic fluctuations around the mean-field ground state. Our method gives a
good overall description of delta V_{pn} throughout the chart of nuclei with
the exception of the anomaly related to the Wigner energy along the N=Z line.
The main conclusions of our analysis are that (i) the structures seen in the
systematics of delta V_{pn} throughout the chart of nuclei can be easily
explained combining a smooth background related to the symmetry energy and
correlation energies due to deformation and collective fluctuations; (ii) the
characteristic pattern of delta V_{pn} around a doubly-magic nucleus is a
trivial consequence of the asymmetric definition of delta V_{pn}, and not due
to a the different structure of these nuclei; (iii) delta V_{pn} does not
provide a very reliable indicator for structural changes; (iv) \delta V_{pn}
does not provide a reliable measure of the proton-neutron interaction in the
nuclear EDF, neither of that between the last filled orbits, nor of the one
summed over all orbits; (v) delta V_{pn} does not provide a conclusive
benchmark for nuclear EDF methods that is superior or complementary to other
mass filters such as two-nucleon separation energies or Q values.Comment: 19 pages and 12 figure
Nature of the glassy phase of RNA secondary structure
We characterize the low temperature phase of a simple model for RNA secondary
structures by determining the typical energy scale E(l) of excitations
involving l bases. At zero temperature, we find a scaling law E(l) \sim
l^\theta with \theta \approx 0.23, and this same scaling holds at low enough
temperatures. Above a critical temperature, there is a different phase
characterized by a relatively flat free energy landscape resembling that of a
homopolymer with a scaling exponent \theta=1. These results strengthen the
evidence in favour of the existence of a glass phase at low temperatures.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur
Analytical description of finite size effects for RNA secondary structures
The ensemble of RNA secondary structures of uniform sequences is studied
analytically. We calculate the partition function for very long sequences and
discuss how the cross-over length, beyond which asymptotic scaling laws apply,
depends on thermodynamic parameters. For realistic choices of parameters this
length can be much longer than natural RNA molecules. This has to be taken into
account when applying asymptotic theory to interpret experiments or numerical
results.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, published in Phys. Rev.
Mirror displacement energies and neutron skins
A gross estimate of the neutron skin [0.80(5) fm] is extracted from
experimental proton radii, represented by a four parameter fit, and observed
mirror displacement energies (CDE). The calculation of the latter relies on an
accurately derived Coulomb energy and smooth averages of the charge symmetry
breaking potentials constrained to state of the art values. The only free
parameter is the neutron skin itself. The Nolen Schiffer anomaly is reduced to
small deviations (rms=127 keV) that exhibit a secular trend. It is argued that
with state of the art shell model calculations the anomaly should disappear.
Highly accurate fits to proton radii emerge as a fringe benefit.Comment: 4 pages 3 figures, superseeds first part of nucl-th/0104048 Present
is new extended version: 5 pages 4 figures. Explains more clearly the
achievements of the previous on
Quantification of the differences between quenched and annealed averaging for RNA secondary structures
The analytical study of disordered system is usually difficult due to the
necessity to perform a quenched average over the disorder. Thus, one may resort
to the easier annealed ensemble as an approximation to the quenched system. In
the study of RNA secondary structures, we explicitly quantify the deviation of
this approximation from the quenched ensemble by looking at the correlations
between neighboring bases. This quantified deviation then allows us to propose
a constrained annealed ensemble which predicts physical quantities much closer
to the results of the quenched ensemble without becoming technically
intractable.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Backbending in 50Cr
The collective yrast band and the high spin states of the nucleus 50Cr are
studied using the spherical shell model and the HFB method. The two
descriptions lead to nearly the same values for the relevant observables. A
first backbending is predicted at I=10\hbar corresponding to a collective to
non-collective transition. At I=16\hbar a second backbending occurs, associated
to a configuration change that can also be interpreted as an spherical to
triaxial transition.Comment: ReVTeX v 3.0 epsf.sty, 5 pages, 5 figures included. Full Postscript
version available at http://www.ft.uam.es/~gabriel/Cr50art.ps.g
Binomial level densities
It is shown that nuclear level densities in a finite space are described by a
continuous binomial function, determined by the first three moments of the
Hamiltonian, and the dimensionality of the underlying vector space.
Experimental values for Mn, Fe, and Ni are very well
reproduced by the binomial form, which turns out to be almost perfectly
approximated by Bethe's formula with backshift. A proof is given that binomial
densities reproduce the low moments of Hamiltonians of any rank: A strong form
of the famous central limit result of Mon and French. Conditions under which
the proof may be extended to the full spectrum are examined.Comment: 4 pages 2 figures Second version (previous not totally superseeded
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