Related papers: Scar-Driven Shape-Changes of Virus Capsids
We conjecture that certain patterns (scars), theoretically and numerically predicted to be formed by electrons arranged on a sphere to minimize the repulsive Coulomb potential (the Thomson problem) and experimentally found in spherical…
To advance Thomson problem we generalize physical principles suggested by Caspar and Klug (CK) to model icosahedral capsids. Proposed simplest distortions of the CK spherical arrangements yield new-type trial structures very close to the…
Recently, continuum elasticity theory has been applied to explain the shape transition of icosahedral viral capsids - single-protein-thick crystalline shells - from spherical to buckled/faceted as their radius increases through a critical…
We show that the icosahedral packings of protein capsomeres proposed by Caspar and Klug for spherical viruses become unstable to faceting for sufficiently large virus size, in analogy with the buckling instability of disclinations in…
Ordered states on spheres require a minimum number of topological defects. For the case of crystalline order, triangular lattices must be interrupted by an array of at least 12 five-fold disclination defects, typically sitting at the…
We theoretically propose a quantum scar affecting the motion of three interacting particles in a circular trap. We numerically calculate the quantum eigenstates of the system and show that some of them are scarred by a classically unstable…
We describe experimental investigations of the structure of two-dimensional spherical crystals. The crystals, formed by beads self-assembled on water droplets in oil, serve as model systems for exploring very general theories about the…
The original Thomson problem of "spherical crystallography" seeks the ground state of electron shells interacting via the Coulomb potential; however one can also study crystalline ground states of particles interacting with other…
We introduce the concept of ergodicity and explore its deviation caused by quantum scars in an isolated quantum system, employing a pedagogical approach based on a toy model. Quantum scars, originally identified as traces of classically…
A quantum eigenstate of a classically chaotic system is referred as scarred by an unstable periodic orbit if its probability density is concentrated in the vicinity of that orbit. Recently, a new class of scarring - variational scarring -…
We develop the theory of quantum scars for quantum fields. By generalizing the formalisms of Heller and Bogomolny from few-body quantum mechanics to quantum fields, we find that unstable periodic classical solutions of the field equations…
We consider the Faraday surface waves of a fluid in a container with a non-integrable boundary shape. We show that, at sufficiently low frequencies, the wave patterns are ``scars'' selected by the instability of the corresponding periodic…
We study how the stability of spherical crystalline shells under external pressure is influenced by the defect structure. In particular, we compare stability for shells with a minimal set of topologically-required defects to shells with…
Quantum scars are enhancements of quantum probability density along classical periodic orbits. We study the recently discovered phenomenon of strong, perturbation-induced quantum scarring in the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator exposed…
A series of simulations aimed at elucidating the self-assembly dynamics of spherical virus capsids is described. This little-understood phenomenon is a fascinating example of the complex processes that occur in the simplest of organisms.…
We develop a clear theoretical description of radial swelling in virus-like particles which delineates the importance of electrostatic contributions to swelling in absence of any conformational changes. The model couples the elastic…
Quantum many-body scars, long-lived excited states of correlated quantum chaotic systems that evade thermalization, are of great fundamental and technological interest. We create novel scar states in a bosonic 1D quantum gas of dysprosium…
We apply Landau theory of crystallization to explain and to classify the capsid structures of small viruses with spherical topology and icosahedral symmetry. We develop an explicit method which predicts the positions of centers of mass for…
Semiclassical methods form a bridge between classical systems and their quantum counterparts. An interesting phenomenon discovered in this connection is the scar effect, whereby energy eigenstates display enhancement structures resembling…
Most galaxies have a warped shape when they are seen from an edge-on point of view. The reason for this curious form is not completely known so far and in this work we apply dynamical system tools to contribute to its explanation. Starting…