Browsing by Author "Moraga Vent, Nicolás Andrés"
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- ItemAFM Study of Elastic Module of Physical-Vapor-Deposited Phospholipid Membranes(2018) Volkmann, Ulrich Georg; Catalán López, Rodrigo Esteban; Retamal Ponce, María José; Cisternas Fruns, Marcelo Andrés; Moraga Vent, Nicolás Andrés; Díaz Díaz, Diego Ignacio; Corrales, Tomás P.; Pérez-Acle, Tomás; Soto Arriaza, Marco Antonio; Huber, PatrickThe physical study of artificial phospholipid membranes on solid substrates has become a relevant way to gain insights into the physical behavior of cell membranes. The study of mechanical properties of artificial membranes (lab-made) has become possible with the use of atomic force microscopy. Here, we analyze the Young's modulus and adhesion force of several phospholipidic membranes as a function of temperature using Scanning Force Spectroscopy (SFS). Phospholipids were deposited onto double-polished silicon substrates by physical vapor deposition (PVD), as we have recently reported [1, 2]. We have used Raman spectroscopy to show that the chemical structure of our deposited phospholipid remains unaltered after PVD. After PVD we performed AFM and SFS measurements on the following phospholipids: DPPC, DMPC and DSPC. Measurements using AFM in liquid confirm the self-assembly of the phospholipid bilayer. By using SFS of the deposited membrane in liquid, we observe 2 phase transitions, both in Younǵs Modulus, as well as adhesion channels. The measured phase transitions are consistent with the ripple-gel transition and the gel-liquid crystalline phases. Furthermore, we have studied the frequency dependence of these phase transitions by changing the tip velocity in SFS experiments. Supported by FONDECYT grant # 1141105 (UGV), FONDECYT INICIACION grant # 11160664 (TPC), CONICYT Fellowships (RC and MC), Postdoctoral Fellowship FONDECYT 3160803 (MJR) and CONICYT-PIA ACT 1409. [1] María J. Retamal, Marcelo A. Cisternas, Sebastian E. Gutierrez-Maldonado, Tomas Perez-Acle, Birger Seifert, Mark Busch, Patrick Huber and Ulrich G. Volkmann, J. Chem. Phys. 141, 104201 (2014). [2] María Jose Retamal, Tomas P. Corrales, Marcelo A. Cisternas, Nicolas H. Moraga, Diego I. Diaz, Rodrigo E. Catalan, Birger Seifert, Patrick Huber, and Ulrich G. Volkmann. Biomacromolecules 17 (3), 1142 (2016).
- ItemMagneto-thermal evolution of neutron star cores in the “strong-coupling regime”(2020) Moraga Vent, Nicolás Andrés; Reisenegger, Andreas; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Instituto de FísicaIn this thesis we study a young neutron star, with internal temperatures T >10^9 K, where the particles in the core are strongly coupled by collisional forces and can convert into each other by beta decays, in the so called ``strong-coupling regime``. At this stage, the magnetic field induces small fluid displacements, changing the local chemical composition and generating pressure gradient forces, which tend to be erased by beta decays. Depending on the strength of the chemical departure, this reactions can lead to a non-trivial thermal evolution as a consequence of the magnetic feedback. This mechanism converts magneticto thermal energy and could explain the high surface luminosity of magnetars (highly magnetize neutron stars). In this thesis, we present the first long-term magneto-thermal simulation of a neutron star core in this regime. We concluded that, for internal magnetic field strength field B > 10^16 G, the possibility of a magnetic feedback due to the chemical departure is not possible because it would occur when the ambipolar heating (friction between charged particles and neutrons) is more likely to heat the core.