Abstract
Davydov has proposed a mechanism for energy transfer in proteins, according to which the energy liberated in an enzymatic reaction can be stored and transported in the form of a soliton. In recent years a debate has been going on concerning the thermal stability of the Davydov soliton. Here it is shown, first, that the two-quantum state is visibly more stable than the one-quantum state, and, second, that the usual Langevin dynamics, whereby the thermal lifetime of the Davydov soliton is estimated, must be viewed as underestimating, possibly very strongly, the soliton lifetime.
- Received 16 May 1994
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.2927
©1994 American Physical Society