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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
Published on: May 15, 2017
Novel mechanism for temperature-independent transitions in flexible molecules: role of thermodynamic fluctuations
V I Teslenko1, E G Petrov, A Verkhratsky
1Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, National Academy of Science of Ukraine, 14-b Metrologichna Street, 03680 Kyiv, Ukraine.
Abstract:
A novel physical mechanism is proposed to explain the temperature-independent transition reactions in molecular systems. The mechanism becomes effective in the case of conformation transitions between quasi-isoenergetic molecular states. It is shown that at room temperatures, stochastic broadening of molecular energy levels predominates the energy of low-frequency vibrations accompanying the transition. This leads to a cancellation of temperature dependence in the stochastically averaged rate constants. As an example, a physical interpretation of temperature-independent onset of P2X{3} receptor desensitization in neuronal membranes is provided.
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