Eur. Phys. J. E (2015) 38: 100
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2015-15100-x

Regular Article

Collapse and hybridization of RNA: View from replica technique approach

¹ Yerevan State University, 1 A. Manoogian Str., 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
² INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via Enrico Fermi, 40, 00044, Frascati RM, Italy
³ Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, 128 Sec. 2, Academia Rd., 11529, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan
⁴ Goris State University, 4 Avangard Str., 3204, Goris, Armenia
⁵ National Center for Theoretical Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, 30013, Hsinchu, Taiwan
⁶ Business School, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 200093, Shanghai, China

^* e-mail: huck@phys.sinica.edu.tw

Received: 17 April 2015
Revised: 19 July 2015
Accepted: 31 July 2015
Published online: 21 September 2015

Abstract

The replica technique method is applied to investigate the kinetic behavior of the coarse-grained model for the RNA molecule. A non-equilibrium phase transition of second order between the glassy phase and the ensemble of freely fluctuating structures has been observed. The non-equilibrium steady state is investigated as well and the thermodynamic characteristics of the system have been evaluated. The non-equilibrium behavior of the specific heat is discussed. Based on our analysis, we point out the state in the kinetic pathway in which the RNA molecule is most prone to hybridization.