arXiv subjects

Selma Mayda

Publications and source records attributed to Selma Mayda.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Magnetic mechanism for the biological functioning of hemoglobin

The role of magnetism in the biological functioning of hemoglobin has been debated since its discovery by Pauling and Coryell in 1936. The hemoglobin molecule contains four heme groups each having a porphyrin layer with a Fe ion at the center. Here, we present combined density-functional theory and quantum Monte Carlo calculations for an effective model of Fe in a heme cluster. In comparison with these calculations, we analyze the experimental data on human adult hemoglobin (HbA) from the magnetic susceptibility, Mossbauer and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) measurements. In both the deoxygenated (deoxy) and the oxygenated (oxy) cases, we show that local magnetic moments develop in the porphyrin layer with antiferromagnetic coupling to the Fe moment. Our calculations reproduce the magnetic susceptibility measurements on deoxy and oxy-HbA. For deoxy-HbA, we show that the anomalous MCD signal in the UV region is an experimental evidence for the presence of antiferromagnetic Fe-porphyrin correlations. The various important properties of hemoglobin are explained based on the antiferromagnetic correlations including the Bohr effect and cooperativity. This analysis shows that magnetism is involved in a fundamental way in the functioning of hemoglobin.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Electronic structure of cyanocobalamin: DFT+QMC study

We study the electronic structure and the magnetic correlations of cyanocobalamin ($C_{63}H_{88}CoN_{14}O_{14}P$) by using the framework of the multi-orbital single-impurity Haldane-Anderson model of a transition metal impurity in a semiconductor host. Here, we first determine the parameters of the Anderson Hamiltonian by performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Then, we use the quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique to obtain the electronic structure and the magnetic correlation functions for this effective model. We find that new electronic states, which correspond to impurity bound states, form above the lowest unoccupied level of the host semiconductor. These new states derive from the atomic orbitals at the cobalt site and the rest of the molecule. We observe that magnetic moments develop at the Co($3d_ν$) orbitals and over the surrounding sites. We also observe that antiferromagnetic correlations exist between the Co($3d_ν$) orbitals and the surrounding atoms. These antiferromagnetic correlations depend on the filling of the impurity bound states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Electronic structure and correlations of vitamin B12 studied within the Haldane-Anderson impurity model

We study the electronic structure and correlations of vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamine) by using the framework of the multi-orbital single-impurity Haldane-Anderson model of a transition-metal impurity in a semiconductor host. The parameters of the effective Haldane-Anderson model are obtained within the Hartree-Fock (HF) approximation. The quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique is then used to calculate the one-electron and magnetic correlation functions of this effective model. We observe that new states form inside the semiconductor gap found by HF due to the intra-orbital Coulomb interaction at the impurity 3d orbitals. In particular, the lowest unoccupied states correspond to an impurity bound state, which consists of states from mainly the CN axial ligand and the corring ring as well as the Co e_g-like orbitals. We also observe that the Co(3d) orbitals can develop antiferromagnetic correlations with the surrounding atoms depending on the filling of the impurity bound states. In addition, we make comparisons of the HF+QMC data with the density functional theory calculations. We also discuss the photoabsorption spectrum of cyanocobalamine.

cond-mat.str-el↗