Dynamics of the Davydov/Scott monomer in a thermal bath. Comparison of the full quantum and semiclassical approaches

J Cuevas, PAS Silva, FR Romero and L Cruzeiro (pdf copy 1 Mb)

Abstract:

The Quantum State Diffusion equation is applied to the problem of energy transfer in proteins. Lindblad operators, capable of coupling the full quantum Davydov/Scott monomer to a thermal bath, are derived. Numerical simulations with the QSD equation show that the Lindblad operators derived do recreate the exact equilibrium ensemble for the Davydov/Scott monomer. Comparison of the results obtained with the full quantum and with the semiclassical systems shows that, at biological temperatures, the latter provides a good approximation of the former.

Phys. Rev E 76, 011907, July 2007, doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.76.011907.