Phase Transition between 'A' and 'B' forms of DNA: A Free Energy Perspective

Abstract

We study the structural transition from `B' form of DNA to 'A' form of DNA using group theoretic methods. The transition is not of the order-disorder type and hence to construct a Landau kind of theory for the transition we define a higher symmetry and relevant order parameters. We also discuss the issue of all the conformations, observed experimentally during the course of transition, being fundamentally different or not.

typos etc. corrected

References in corpus (1)

• Erratum: Landau Analysis of the Symmetry of the Magnetic Structure and Magnetoelectric Interaction in Multiferroics [Phys. Rev. B 76, 05447 (2007)]