arXiv subjects

R. A. Broglia

Publications and source records attributed to R. A. Broglia.

87 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv1998

Folding and Aggregation of Designed Proteins

Studies of how protein fold have shown that the way protein clumps form in the test tube is similar to how proteins form the so-called ``amyloid'' deposits that are the pathological signal of a variety of diseases, among them the memory disorder Alzheimer's. Protein aggregation have traditionally been connected to either unfolded or native states. Inclusion body formation (disordered aggregation) has been assumed to arise from hydrophobic aggregation of the unfolded or denaturated states, while the amyloid fibrils (ordered aggregation) have been assumed to arise from native-like conformations in a process analogous to the polymerization of hemoglobin S. Making use of lattice-model simulations we find that both ordered and disordered aggregation arise from elementary structures which eventually build the folding nucleus of the heteropolymers, and takes place when some of the most strongly interacting amino acids establish their contacts leading to the formation of a specific subset of the native structure. These elementary structures can be viewed as the partially folded intermediates suggested to be involved in the aggregation of a number of proteins. These results have evolutionary implications, as the elementary structures forming the folding core of designed proteins contain the residues which are conserved among the members of homologous sequences.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1998

Electron-Phonon Coupling in Charged Buckminsterfullerene

A simple, yet accurate solution of the electron-phonon coupling problem in C_{60} is presented. The basic idea behind it is to be found in the parametrization of the ground state electronic density of the system calculated making use of ab-initio methods, in term of sp$^{2+x}$ hybridized orbitals. This parametrization allows for an economic determination of the deformation potential associated with the fullerene's normal modes. The resulting electron-phonon coupling constants are used to calculate Jahn-Teller effects in C_{60}^-, and multiple satellite peaks in the corresponding photoemission reaction. Theory provides an accurate account of the experimental findings.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

Vortex-nucleus interaction and pinning forces in neutron stars

We calculate the force that pins vortices in the neutron superfluid to nuclei in the inner crust of rotating neutron stars, relying on a detailed microscopic description of both the vortex radial profile and the inner crust nuclear structure. The contribution to the pinning energy from pair condensation is estimated in the local density approximation with realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions. The kinetic contribution, not consistently included in previous approaches, is evaluated in the same approximation, and found to be relevant. The vortex-nucleus interaction turns out to be attractive for stellar desities greater than $\sim 10^13 g/cm^3$. In this region, we find values for the pinning force which are almost one order of magnitude lower than the ones obtained so far. This has direct consequences on the critical velocity differences for depinning.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

High-Current Field Emission from an Atomic Quantum Wire

Linear chains of carbon atoms have been proposed as the electron emitting structures of open tip carbon nanotubes subject to an electric field. To better understand the implications of the results of Smalley and collaborators, the electromagnetic response of linear carbon chains to both static and dynamics fields have been studied, making use of ab-initio methods. It is found that the associated emission currents, plotted as a function of the bias potential, follow Fowler-Nordheim intensity-voltage curves typical of the field emission of metallic tips. Under standard bias conditions, linear carbon chains of one nanometer of length are expected to deliver currents of the order of one microampere. These systems behave, furthermore, as conducting needles in photoabsorption processes. Linear carbon chains are thus likely to constitute the ultimate atomic-scale realization of metallic wires.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv1997

Competition Between Particle-Hole and Particle-Particle Correlations in Forbidden Electron Capture: the Case of $^{123}$Te

The K-electron capture half-life of $^{123}$Te has been recently measured to be $t^K_{exp}=2.4\times 10^{19}$ yr, and constitutes the longest half-life ever measured in a single $β$-transition of any nuclear species. We have calculated this second unique forbidden transition within the framework of the proton-neutron quasi-particle random phase approximation, making use of Skyrme-type effective interactions. A strong cancellation effect between particle-hole and particle-particle correlations is found. The model, without any renormalization of the force, provides a lower limit for the K-electron capture half-life of $\sim 10^{17}$ yr, which unambiguously rules out the old experimental values of $10^{13} - 10^{14}$ yr. A few percent increase of the particle-particle matrix elements of the Skyrme interaction allows to reproduce the experimental findings.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1997

Folding and Misfolding of Designed Heteropolymer Chains with Mutations

We study the impact of mutations (changes in amino acid sequence) on the thermodynamics of simple protein-like heteropolymers consisting of N monomers, representing the amino acid sequence. The sequence is designed to fold into its native conformation on a cubic lattice. It is found that quite a large fraction, between one half and one third of the substitutions, which we call 'cold errors', make important contributions to the dynamics of the folding process, increasing folding times typically by a factor of two, the altered chain still folding into the native structure. Few mutations ('hot errors'), have quite dramatic effects, leading to protein misfolding. Our analysis reveals that mutations affect primarily the energetics of the native conformation and to a much lesser extent the ensemble of unfolded conformations, corroborating the utility of the ``energy gap'' concept for the analysis of folding properties of protein-like heteropolymers.

cond-mat↗

arXiv1997

Shell Model for Warm Rotating Nuclei

In order to provide a microscopic description of levels and E2 transitions in rapidly rotating nuclei with internal excitation energy up to a few MeV, use is made of a shell model which combines the cranked Nilsson mean-field and the residual surface delta two-body force. The damping of collective rotational motion is investigated in the case of a typical rare-earth nucleus, namely \Yb. It is found that rotational damping sets in at around 0.8 MeV above the yrast line, and the levels which form rotational band structures are thus limited. We predict at a given rotational frequency existence of about 30 rotational bands of various lengths, in overall agreement with the experimental findings. The onset of the rotational damping proceeds quite gradually as a function of the internal excitation energy. The transition region extends up to around 2 MeV above yrast and it is characterized by the presence of scars of discrete rotational bands which extend over few spin values and stand out among the damped transitions, and by a two-component profile in the $E_γ-E_γ$ correlation. The important role played by the high-multipole components of the two-body residual interaction is emphasized.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1997

Effects of angular momentum projection on the nuclear partition function and the observation of the giant dipole resonance in hot nuclei

Procedures for projecting angular momentum in a model describing a hot nucleus that takes into account large-amplitude quadrupole fluctuations are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the effect angular-momentum projection has on the observables associated with the $γ$-decay of the giant-dipole resonance (GDR). We also elaborate on which of the different projection methods provides the best overall description of the GDR, including angular distributions. The main consequence of angular-momentum projection is the appearance of an effective volume element in the integrals associated with the thermal average of the physical observables. This effective volume element is controlled by the value of the moments of inertia of the system. In the limit of rigid-body moments of inertia, the effective volume element is found to differ only slightly from the volume element associated with the normalization of the five-dimensional quadrupole oscillator wavefunction in the $β$, $γ$, and $Ω$ space, namely $D[α]=β^4dβsin(3γ)dγdΩ$. In the limit of irrotational flow moments of inertia, the leading behavior in the $β$ degree of freedom is $D[α]\propto βdβ$.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1996

Rho meson properties in the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model

Some properties of the rho vector meson are calculated within the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model, including processes that go beyond the random phase approximation. To classify the higher order contributions, we adopt $1/N_c$ as expansion parameter. In particular, we evaluate the leading order contributions to the $ρ\rightarrow ππ$ decay width, obtaining the value $Γ= 118$ MeV, and to the shift of the rho mass which turns out to be lowered by 64 MeV with respect to its RPA value. A set of model parameters is determined accordingly.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1996

The Spectral Line Shape of Exotic Nuclei

The quadrupole strength function of $^{28}O$ is calculated making use of the SIII interaction, within the framework of continuum-RPA and taking into account collisions among the nucleons (doorway coupling). The centroid of the giant resonance is predicted at $\approx 14$ MeV, that is much below the energy expected for both isoscalar and isovector quadrupole resonances in nuclei along the stability valley. About half of this width arises from the coupling of the resonance to the continuum and about half is due to doorway coupling. This result is similar to that obtained in the study of giant resonances in light, $β$-stable nuclei, and shows the lack of basis for the expectation, entertained until now in the literature, that continuum decay was the main damping mechanism of giant resonances in halo nuclei.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1996

Behavior of the giant-dipole resonance in $^{120}$Sn and $^{208}$Pb at high excitation energ

The properties of the giant-dipole resonance (GDR) are calculated as a function of excitation energy, angular momentum, and the compound nucleus particle decay width in the nuclei $^{120}$Sn and $^{208}$Pb, and are compared with recent experimental data. Differences observed in the behavior of the full-width-at-half-maximum of the GDR for $^{120}$Sn and $^{208}$Pb are attributed to the fact that shell corrections in $^{208}$Pb are stronger than in $^{120}$Sn, and favor the spherical shape at low temperatures. The effects shell corrections have on both the free energy and the moments of inertia are discussed in detail. At high temperature, the FWHM in $^{120}$Sn exhibits effects due to the evaporation width of the compound nucleus, while these effects are predicted for $^{208}$Pb.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1994

Neutrino Capture Cross Sections for Ar-40 and beta-decay of Ti-40

Shell-model calculations of solar neutrino absorption cross sections for $^{40}$Ar, the proposed component of the ICARUS detector, are presented. It is found that low-lying Gamow-Teller transitions lead to a significant enhancement of the absorption rate over that expected from the Fermi transition between the isobaric analog states, leading to an overall absorption rate of 6.7 SNU. We also note that the pertinent Gamow-Teller transitions in $^{\sss 40}$Ar are experimentally accessible from the $β$-decay of the mirror nucleus $^{\sss 40}$Ti. Predictions for the branching ratios to states in $^{\sss 40}$Sc are presented, and the theoretical halflife of 53~ms is found to be in good agreement with the experimental value of $56^{+18}_{-12}$~ms.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1994

Escape and Spreading Properties of Charge-Exchange Resonances in Bi 208

The properties of charge-exchange excitations of ${}^ {208}$Pb with $ΔL = 0$, i.e., the isobaric analog and Gamow-Teller resonances, are studied within a self-consistent model making use of an effective force of the Skyrme type. The well-known isobaric analog case is used to assess the reliability of the model. The calculated properties of the Gamow-Teller resonance are compared with recent experimental measurements with the aim of better understanding the microscopic structure of this mode.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1992

Chaotic Behavior in Warm Deformed Nuclei Induced by Residual Two-Body Interactions

Band mixing calculations in rapidly rotating well-deformed nuclei are presented, investigating the properties of energy levels and rotational transitions as a function of excitation energy. Substantial fragmentation of E2 transitions is found for $E_x \gsim$ 800 keV above yrast, which represents the onset of rotational damping. Above $E_x \approx $ 2 MeV, energy levels and E2 strengths display fluctuations typical of quantum chaotic systems, which are determined by the high multipole components of the two-body residual interaction.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1992

Microscopic Origin of Quantum Chaos in Rotational Damping

The rotational spectrum of $^{168}$Yb is calculated diagonalizing different effective interactions within the basis of unperturbed rotational bands provided by the cranked shell model. A transition between order and chaos taking place in the energy region between 1 and 2 MeV above the yrast line is observed, associated with the onset of rotational damping. It can be related to the higher multipole components of the force acting among the unperturbed rotational bands.

nucl-th↗