title: Role of protein fluctuation correlations in electron transfer in photosynthetic complexes.
abstract: We consider the dependence of the electron transfer in photosynthetic complexes on correlation properties of random fluctuations of the protein environment. The electron subsystem is modeled by a finite network of connected electron (exciton) sites. The fluctuations of the protein environment are modeled by random telegraph processes, which act either collectively (correlated) or independently (uncorrelated) on the electron sites. We derived an exact closed system of first-order linear differential equations with constant coefficients, for the average density matrix elements and for their first moments. Under some conditions, we obtained analytic expressions for the electron transfer rates and found the range of parameters for their applicability by comparing with the exact numerical simulations. We also compared the correlated and uncorrelated regimes and demonstrated numerically that the uncorrelated fluctuations of the protein environment can, under some conditions, either increase or decrease the electron transfer rates.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Avenida Revolución 1500, Guadalajara, Codigo Postal 44420, Jalisco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alexander I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Nesterov
authors.affiliation: Theoretical Division, T-4, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544, USA.
authors.forename: Gennady P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Berman
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004579:Electron Transport; D004583:Electrons; D008954:Models, Biological; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D010788:Photosynthesis; D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory
chemical_list: D045322:Photosynthetic Reaction Center Complex Proteins