Do Davydov Solitons Exist at 300 K?

Abstract

The Davydov model for a one-dimensional protein, coupling the high-frequency amide-I vibration to longitudinal-acoustic phonons, is investigated by use of finite-temperature molecular dynamics. Soliton dynamics is studied in both equilibrium and nonequilibrium situations. The random thermal motions prevent self-trapping from occurring at temperatures of interest for transport in real proteins.