Glassy transition in a disordered model for the RNA secondary structure

TL;DR

This paper investigates a disordered RNA secondary structure model and discovers a phase transition characterized by replica symmetry breaking at low temperatures, using exact partition function calculations.

Contribution

It introduces a disordered model for RNA secondary structures and demonstrates a phase transition with replica symmetry breaking, a novel insight in this context.

Findings

Phase transition observed in the model

Replica symmetry breaking at low temperatures

Exact partition function evaluation confirms results

Abstract

We numerically study a disordered model for the RNA secondary structure and we find that it undergoes a phase transition, with a breaking of the replica symmetry in the low temperature region (like in spin glasses). Our results are based on the exact evaluation of the partition function.