Discrete Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation, Solitons and Organizing Principles for Protein Folding

Abstract

We introduce a novel generalization of the discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. It supports solitons that describe how proteins fold. As an example we scrutinize the villin headpiece HP35, an archetypal protein for testing both experimental and theoretical approaches to protein folding. Using explicit soliton profiles we construct its carbon backbone with an unprecedented accuracy.