arXiv subjects

Andrew Wildes

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew Wildes.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Structural correlations and melting of B-DNA fibres

Despite numerous attempts, the understanding of the thermal denaturation of DNA is still a challenge due to the lack of structural data at the transition since standard experimental approaches to DNA melting are made in solution and do not provide spatial information. We report a measurement using neutron scattering from oriented DNA fibres to determine the size of the regions that stay in the double-helix conformation as the melting temperature is approached from below. A Bragg peak from the B-form of DNA has been observed as a function of temperature and its width and integrated intensity have bean measured. These results, complemented by a differential calorimetry study of the melting of B DNA fibres as well as electrophoresis and optical observation data, are analysed in terms of a one-dimensional mesoscopic model of DNA.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2011

The thermal denaturation of DNA studied with neutron scattering

The melting transition of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), whereby the strands of the double helix structure completely separate at a certain temperature, has been characterized using neutron scattering. A Bragg peak from B-form fibre DNA has been measured as a function of temperature, and its widths and integrated intensities have been interpreted using the Peyrard-Bishop-Dauxois (PBD) model with only one free parameter. The experiment is unique, as it gives spatial correlation along the molecule through the melting transition where other techniques cannot.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Magnetoelectric MnPS3 thiophosphate as a new candidate for ferrotoroidicity

We have revisited the magnetic structure of manganese phosphorus trisulfide MnPS3 using neutron diffrac- tion and polarimetry. MnPS3 undergoes a transition toward a collinear antiferromagnetic order at 78 K. The resulting magnetic point-group breaks both the time reversal and the space inversion thus allowing a linear magnetoelectric coupling. Neutron polarimetry was subsequently used to prove that this coupling provides a way to manipulate the antiferromagnetic domains simply by cooling the sample under crossed magnetic and electrical fields, in agreement with the nondiagonal form of the magnetoelectric tensor. In addition, this tensor has, in principle, an antisymmetric part that results in a toroidic moment and provides with a pure ferrotoroidic compound.

cond-mat.str-el↗