arXiv subjects

Alessandra Lattanzi

Publications and source records attributed to Alessandra Lattanzi.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2007

Chiral Structures Under the Standard of Orthogonal Groups

General features of microscopic and macroscopic chiral structures can be discussed under the standard of orthogonal group theory. Configuration space of systems, not physical space, is taken into account. This change of perspective allows to overcome traditional shortcomings related to true and false chirality, statistical realization of mirror images, classification of objects as more or less chiral. From this viewpoint, a chiral object is a physical system whose configurations are described by the O(N) algebra in an abstract N-dimensional space. A quantum mechanical interpretation is straightforward due to the fact that combinations of chiral states give rise to parity states which can be interpreted as energy eigenstates.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2005

Spiral Galaxies as Enantiomers: Chirality, an Underlying Feature in Chemistry and Astrophysics

Spiral galaxies are axi-symmetric objects showing 2D-chirality when projected onto a plane. Features in common with tetrahedral molecules are pointed out, in particular the existence of a preferred chiral modality for genetic galaxies as in aminoacids and sugars. Environmental effects can influence the intrinsic chirality of originally isolated stellar systems so that a progressive loss of chirality is recognised in the Hubble morphological sequence of galaxies.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2005

Spiral Galaxies as Chiral Objects?

Spiral galaxies show axial symmetry and an intrinsic 2D-chirality. Environmental effects can influence the chirality of originally isolated stellar systems and a progressive loss of chirality can be recognised in the Hubble sequence. We point out a preferential modality for genetic galaxies as in microscopic systems like aminoacids, sugars or neutrinos. This feature could be the remnant of a primordial symmetry breaking characterizing systems at all scales.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Chiral Tetrahedrons as Unitary Quaternions: Molecules and Particles Under the Same Standard?

Chiral tetrahedral molecules can be dealt under the standard of quaternionic algebra. Specifically, non-commutativity of quaternions is a feature directly related to the chirality of molecules. It is shown that a quaternionic representation naturally comes out from empirical Fischer projections and the action of the related algebra on the quantum states of molecules is studied. Analogies with fundamental particle physics are discussed.

physics.chem-ph↗