Speaker
Description
Protein dynamics play a vital role in biology. Quasi elastic neutron scattering is an ideal method to access these dynamics. Normally data analysis is performed based on the assumption that the scattering spectrum is incoherent. In order to be observe the full range of protein dynamics it is necessary to perform the experiments in solution. This solution is usually a fully deuterated buffer, while the protein remains protonated. It is generally assumed that while the buffer leads to a coherent contribution, this can be taken into account during data analysis by subtracting the buffer contribution from the sample spectrum. Up until recently there was no way to experimentally verify this assumption. Polarised QENS experiments on LET allow for the coherent and incoherent contributions to be separated. By comparing the results from the polarised QENS experiment and the standard analysis method from unpolarised QENS it was possible to experimentally check this assumption. This has shown that the pure incoherent spectrum obtained from polarisation analysis does not match the results for normal QENS.
I will present ideas on how to treat normal QENS data to take the coherent contribution into account during data analysis. Both approaches that are currently available and ideas for how simulations could help with this in the future.
