SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

K. A. Dawson

Publications and source records attributed to K. A. Dawson.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

Using recurrent neural networks to predict aspects of 3-D structure of folded copolymer sequences

The neural network techniques are developed for artificial sequences based on approximate models of proteins. We only encode the hydrophobicity of the amino acid side chains without attempting to model the secondary structure. We use our approach to obtain a large set of sequences with known 3-D structures for training the neural network. By employing recurrent neural networks we describe a way to augment a neural network to deal with sequences of realistic length and long-distant interactions between the sequence regions.

cond-mat.soft

Star polymers: A study of the structural arrest in presence of attractive interactions

Simulations and Mode-Coupling Theory calculations, for a large range of the arm number $f$ and packing fraction $η$ have shown that the structural arrest and the dynamics of star polymers in a good solvent are extremely rich: the systems show a reentrant melting of the disordered glass nested between two stable fluid phases that strongly resemble the equilibrium phase diagram. Starting from a simple model potential we investigate the effect of the interplay between attractive interactions of different range and ultrasoft core repulsion, on the dynamics and on the occurrence of the ideal glass transition line. In the two cases considered so far, we observed some significant differences with respect to the purely repulsive pair interaction. We also discuss the interplay between equilibrium and non equilibrium phase behavior. The accuracy of the theoretical tools we utilized in our investigation has been checked by comparing the results with molecular dynamics simulations.

cond-mat.soft

Confirmation of Anomalous Dynamical Arrest in attractive colloids: a molecular dynamics study

Previous theoretical, along with early simulation and experimental, studies have indicated that particles with a short-ranged attraction exhibit a range of new dynamical arrest phenomena. These include very pronounced reentrance in the dynamical arrest curve, a logarithmic singularity in the density correlation functions, and the existence of `attractive' and `repulsive' glasses. Here we carry out extensive molecular dynamics calculations on dense systems interacting via a square-well potential. This is one of the simplest systems with the required properties, and may be regarded as canonical for interpreting the phase diagram, and now also the dynamical arrest. We confirm the theoretical predictions for re-entrance, logarithmic singularity, and give the first direct evidence of the coexistence, independent of theory, of the two coexisting glasses. We now regard the previous predictions of these phenomena as having been established.

cond-mat.soft

Dynamics of supercooled liquids: density fluctuations and Mode Coupling Theory

We write equations of motion for density variables that are equivalent to Newtons equations. We then propose a set of trial equations parameterised by two unknown functions to describe the exact equations. These are chosen to best fit the exact Newtonian equations. Following established ideas, we choose to separate these trial functions into a set representing integrable motions of density waves, and a set containing all effects of non-integrability. It transpires that the static structure factor is fixed by this minimum condition to be the solution of the Yvon-Born-Green (YBG) equation. The residual interactions between density waves are explicitly isolated in their Newtonian representation and expanded by choosing the dominant objects in the phase space of the system, that can be represented by a dissipative term with memory and a random noise. This provides a mapping between deterministic and stochastic dynamics. Imposing the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem (FDT) allows us to calculate the memory kernel. We write exactly the expression for it, following two different routes, i.e. using explicitly Newtons equations, or instead, their implicit form, that must be projected onto density pairs, as in the development of the well-established Mode Coupling Theory (MCT). We compare these two ways of proceeding, showing the necessity to enforce a new equation of constraint for the two schemes to be consistent. Thus, while in the first `Newtonian' representation a simple gaussian approximation for the random process leads easily to the Mean Spherical Approximation (MSA) for the statics and to MCT for the dynamics of the system, in the second case higher levels of approximation are required to have a fully consistent theory.

cond-mat.soft

Evidence for Unusual Dynamical Arrest Scenario in Short Ranged Colloidal Systems

Extensive molecular dynamics simulation studies of particles interacting via a short ranged attractive square-well (SW) potential are reported. The calculated loci of constant diffusion coefficient $D$ in the temperature-packing fraction plane show a re-entrant behavior, i.e. an increase of diffusivity on cooling, confirming an important part of the high volume-fraction dynamical-arrest scenario earlier predicted by theory for particles with short ranged potentials. The more efficient localization mechanism induced by the short range bonding provides, on average, additional free volume as compared to the hard-sphere case and results in faster dynamics.

cond-mat.soft

Mode-Coupling Theory of Colloids with Short-range Attractions

Within the framework of the mode-coupling theory of super-cooled liquids, we investigate new phenomena in colloidal systems on approach to their glass transitions. When the inter-particle potential contains an attractive part, besides the usual repulsive hard core, two intersecting liquid-glass transition lines appear, one of which extends to low densities, while the other one, at high densities, shows a re-entrant behaviour. In the glassy region a new type of transition appears between two different types of glasses. The complex phenomenology can be described in terms of higher order glass transition singularities. The various glass phases are characterised by means of their viscoelastic properties. The glass driven by attractions has been associated to particle gels, and the other glass is the well known repulsive colloidal glass. These correspondences, in associations with the new predictions of glassy behaviour mean that such phenomena may be expected in colloidal systems with, for example, strong depletion or other short-ranged attractive potentials.

cond-mat.soft

Kinetic Arrest Originating in Competition between\linebreak Attractive Interaction and Packing Force

We discuss the situation where attractive and repulsive portions of the inter-particle potential both contribute significantly to glass formation. We introduce the square-well potential as prototypical model for this situation, and {\it reject} the Baxter as a useful model for comparison to experiment on glasses, based on our treatment within mode coupling theory. We present explicit results for various well-widths, and show that, for narrow wells, there is a useful analytical formula that would be suitable for experimentalist working in the field of colloidal science. We raise the question as to whether, in a more exact treatment, the sticky sphere limit might have an infinite glass transition temperature, or a high but finite one.

cond-mat.soft

Slowed Relaxational Dynamics Beyond the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem

To describe the slow dynamics of a system out of equilibrium, but close to a dynamical arrest, we generalize the ideas of previous work to the case where time-translational invariance is broken. We introduce a model of the dynamics that is reasonably general, and show how all of the unknown parameters of this model may be related to the observables or to averages of the noise. One result is a generalisation of the Fluctuation Dissipation Theorem of type two (FDT2), and the method is thereby freed from this constraint. Significantly, a systematic means of implementing the theory to higher order is outlined. We propose the simplest possible closure of these generalized equations, following the same type of approximations that have been long known for the equilibrium case of Mode Coupling Theory (MCT). Naturally, equilibrium MCT equations are found as a limit of this generalized formalism. %We indicate that, within the same general %framework, it should be possible to make higher level approximations, %leading to more general applicability.

cond-mat.dis-nn

A Study of Sequence Distribution of a Painted Globule as a Model for Proteins with Good Folding Properties

In this paper we present a method to study the folding structure of a simple model consisting of two kinds of monomers, hydrophobic and hydrophilic. This method has three main steps: an efficient simulation method to bring an open sequence of homopolymer to a folded state, the application of a painting method called (regular hull) to the folded globule and the refolding process of the obtained copolymer sequence. This study allows us to suggest a theoretical function of disorder distribution for copolymer sequences that give rise to a compacted and well micro-phase separated globule.

cond-mat.soft

Gaussian density fluctuations and Mode Coupling Theory for supercooled liquids

The equations of motion for the density modes of a fluid, derived from Newton's equations, are written as a linear generalized Langevin equation. The constraint imposed by the fluctuation-dissipation theorem is used to derive an exact form for the memory function. The resulting equations, solved under the assumption that the noise, and consequently density fluctuations, of the liquid are gaussian distributed, are equivalent to the random-phase-approximation for the static structure factor and to the well known ideal mode coupling theory (MCT) equations for the dynamics. This finding suggests that MCT is the canonical mean-field theory of the fluid dynamics.

cond-mat.soft

Mechanical Properties of a Model of Attractive Colloidal Solutions

We review the nature of glass transitions and the glasses arising from a square-well potential with a narrow and deep well. Our discussion is based on the Mode Coupling Theory, and the predictions of glasses that we make refer to the `ideal' glasses predicted by that theory. We believe that the square well system well represents colloidal particles with attractive interactions produced by grafted polymers, or depletion interactions. It has been recently shown that two types of glass, an attractive and a repulsive one, are predicted by MCT for this model. The former can form at quite low densities. Most of our attention is directed at the mechanical properties of the glasses predicted by this theory. In particular we calculate the elastic shear modulus at zero frequency and the longitudinal stress modulus in the long wavelength limit. Results for both are presented along the glass-liquid transition curves, and their interesting behaviour is explained in terms of the underlying physics of the system.

cond-mat.soft

Hydration of a B-DNA Fragment in the Method of Atom-atom Correlation Functions with the Reference Interaction Site Model Approximation

We propose an efficient numerical algorithm for solving integral equations of the theory of liquids in the Reference Interaction Site Model (RISM) approximation for infinitely dilute solution of macromolecules with a large number of atoms. The algorithm is based on applying the nonstationary iterative methods for solving systems of linear algebraic equations. We calculate the solvent-solute atom-atom correlation functions for a fragment of the B-DNA duplex d(GGGGG).d(CCCCC) in infinitely dilute aqueous solution. The obtained results are compared with available experimental data and results from computer simulations.

cond-mat.soft

Conformational transitions of heteropolymers in dilute solutions

In this paper we extend the Gaussian self-consistent method to permit study of the equilibrium and kinetics of conformational transitions for heteropolymers with any given primary sequence. The kinetic equations earlier derived by us are transformed to a form containing only the mean squared distances between pairs of monomers. These equations are further expressed in terms of instantaneous gradients of the variational free energy. The method allowed us to study exhaustively the stability and conformational structure of some periodic and random aperiodic sequences. A typical phase diagram of a fairly long amphiphilic heteropolymer chain is found to contain phases of the extended coil, the homogeneous globule, the micro-phase separated globule, and a large number of frustrated states, which result in conformational phases of the random coil and the frozen globule. We have also found that for a certain class of sequences the frustrated phases are suppressed. The kinetics of folding from the extended coil to the globule proceeds through non-equilibrium states possessing locally compacted, but partially misfolded and frustrated, structure. This results in a rather complicated multistep kinetic process typical of glassy systems.

cond-mat.soft

Random copolymer: Gaussian variational approach

We study the phase transitions of a random copolymer chain with quenched disorder. We apply a replica variational approach based on a Gaussian trial Hamiltonian in terms of the correlation functions of monomer Fourier coordinates. This allows us to study collapse, phase separation and freezing transitions within the same mean field theory. The effective free energy of the system is derived analytically and analysed numerically. Such quantities as the radius of gyration or the average value of the overlap between different replicas are treated as observables and evaluated by introducing appropriate external fields to the Hamiltonian. We obtain the phase diagram and show that this system exhibits a scale dependent freezing transition. The correlations between replicas appear at different length scales as the temperature decreases. This indicates the existence of the topological frustration.

cond-mat.dis-nn