title: Large deviations for random trees and the branching of RNA secondary structures.
abstract: We give a Large Deviation Principle (LDP) with explicit rate function for the distribution of vertex degrees in plane trees, a combinatorial model of RNA secondary structures. We calculate the typical degree distributions based on nearest neighbor free energies, and compare our results with the branching configurations found in two sets of large RNA secondary structures. We find substantial agreement overall, with some interesting deviations which merit further study.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0160, USA. bakhtin@math.gatech.edu
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bakhtin
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Heitsch
mesh_terms: D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003663:Decision Trees; D008958:Models, Molecular; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000235:genetics; D011336:Probability; D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D012338:RNA, Ribosomal, 23S; D012367:RNA, Viral