ISSN:
1573-0689
Keywords:
D- and L-alanine and valine
;
parity violation of Z0 force
;
phase transition
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract Three kinds of experiments have been designed in attempting to observe theparity violation of electroweak force at the phase transition of singlecrystals of D- and L-alanine and valine.(1) An obvious λ phasetransition at 270 ± 1 K was shown in the specific heat measurement ofalanine and valine enantiomers by differential scanning calorimetry. Thebiologically dominant L-enantiomer was found to have lower energy. (2)Magnetization of single crystals of D- and L-alanine and D-valine weremeasured as a function of temperature using the SQUID magnetometer. Thedifference of the mass susceptibility χρ ∼ T curve between theD-alanine and L-alanine is attributable to the variation of intramoleculargeometry of chirality density, which is related to the parity violationenergy shift of a chiral molecule and is a consequence of the short rangeof the weak interaction between the nuclei and electrons. (3) Laser Ramanspectra of D- and L-alanine at different low temperatures (100 K, 250 K,260 K, 270 K, 280 K and 290 K) showed that the second order Cα–Hdeformation modes at 2606 cm-1, 2724 cm-1 of D-alanine vanishedat 270 K but reappeared at 100 K. In the same method, L-alanine has nosuch phenomenon. An obvious decrease in the scattering intensity of themethyne group Cα–H stretching mode at 2964 cm-1 in D-alanineoccurs at the λ transition temperature. We present our experimentsinvolving the possible relevance of Z0 force with Salam's putativephase transition in the origin of homochirality.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005187416704
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