Author: Juan FR Archilla (poster pdf color 157 Kb)
With JC Eilbeck.

Abstract: When ionizing radiation hits the DNA molecula, it breaks, but the length of the fragments don't correspond to breaks at random points. There is an in excess yield of short ones, but still of several hundreds or thousands of base pairs. A proposed explanation is that a secundary consequence of a break is the production of a wave that propagates along the molecule and brings about a secundary break in some weak points. A model of DNA is proposed in order to simulate this phenomenon. The existence and propagation of breathers, i.e. localized excitations, is investigated