Davydov solutions at 300 kelvin: The final search

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5871092

Lomdahl, P S; Kerr, W C

The original proposal by Professor A.S. Davydov of a soliton mechanism for localization and transport of energy along linear chain molecules provided the impetus for several research efforts which have explored the properties of these nonlinear entities in differing degrees of realism. The general conclusion from all of this work is that the nonlinear equations of motion which have been used to describe these systems have soliton-like solutions when they are solved in the deterministic limit. This limit corresponds to the absolute zero of temperature, because it ignores the influence of random thermal perturbations on the system. However, the questions of existence and importance of the Davydov soliton remain controversial when non-zero temperature effects are taken into account, because numerical simulations and theoretical calculations done by independent research groups have reached diametrically opposed conclusions. Our 1985 paper was the first to simulate thermal perturbations at biologically relevant temperature (300 K). Since publishing that paper, we have done simulations for collisions of phonon wave packets with Davydov solitons and have also taken into account the presence of multiple quanta of the high frequency oscillator field in the Davydov equations of motion. We present these results here. However, for the major question about the temperature effects on the Davydov soliton, our conclusions remain unchanged. 5 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5871092
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-89-2453; CONF-8908122-2; ON: DE89015248
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640302* -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Atomic & Molecular Properties & Theory
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ENERGY
ENERGY TRANSPORT
EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
FUNCTIONS
KINETIC ENERGY
LANGEVIN EQUATION
MOLECULES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PROTEINS
QUASI PARTICLES
SOLITONS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
WAVE FUNCTIONS